Atlanta came into Monday night looking to build upon a strong first half of a travel back-to-back set. The Hawks ran back their starting lineup from the win over the Pelicans: Young, Daniels, Risacher, Johnson, and Capela.
Boston didn’t have Finals MVP Jaylen Brown for this contest along with the still recovering Kristaps Porzingis, and so they inserted Neemias Queta into their own starting lineup.
Jalen Johnson kept his hot scoring streak going early in the contest, scoring seven quick points and picking up an assist on this drive and kick.
Atlanta largely matched Boston’s always dangerous three-point shooting in the first quarter, but the Celtics won a championship with their 5-out style of play and the Hawks could only replicate it so much.
After one quarter, the Hawks survived Jayson Tatum’s 16 points and trailed 35-30.
But in the second, the good guys clearly brought an energy advantage to the period, like on this Garrison Mathews (!?) emphatic rejection.
Jalen Johnson continue to light the court on first, first with his scoring:
And then with his passing, this time to one of his best buddies Onyeka Okongwu.
But Jrue Holiday led an 11-0 run to reverse a 44-41 Hawks lead into an 8-point lead for the Celtics. The Hawks recovered, but then another huge Celtics run built a double-digit lead in a hurry late in the second quarter.
At half, the Hawks were left stunned as the Celtics took a 75-53 lead into the halftime break.
Boston hit 15 threes in the first half on 34 takes for a 44% 3P%. Jayson Tatum led the way with 26 points on 9-for-13 shooting plus four rebounds and four assists. Jalen Johnson did his best to counter with 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists, however.
Things didn’t get too much better in the third quarter. The Celtics got to the rim at will in transition and pushed the lead to 30, just about ending any prospect of a Hawks comeback.
That’s not to say the Hawks threw in the towel. They did what they could to prevent the game from entering truly ugly territory.
Onyeka Okongwu continued to clean up around the rim for some easy points, and Jalen Johnson pushed his stat line to 20 points and 10 rebounds by the end of the third quarter.
To add insult to injury, Trae Young left the game in the third quarter with what the Hawks later called a right rib sprain.
With 12 minutes mercifully left to play, the Hawks trailed 103-75.
There would be no epic storming back in this one, and after just a few minutes, Quin Snyder closed with the little used Dominick Barlow, Mouhamed Gueye, and the rest of the deep bench crew. Atlanta fell by a score of 123-93.
Jalen Johnson finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Onyeka Okongwu added 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
The Hawks will be back in action against the New York Knicks on Wednesday.
