Game 1 | Boston 104, Atlanta 81 | Apr. 20, 2008
The Basics
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Links:
- In the Hawks' first playoff action since 1999, Atlanta dropped a 104-81 decision in Boston on Sunday night.
- Rookie of the Year candidate Al Horford was outstanding, notching 20 pts and 10 rebs in his first NBA playoff game ... Joe Johnson added 19 pts, while Josh Childress tallied 10 off the bench ... Ray Allen (18) led a balanced Boston scoring attack, as the Celtics placed six in double figures.
- The Celtics jumped out early, leading by as many as 14 early (24-10), but the Hawks battled back to close the gap to two (29-27) early in the second ... At the half, Boston was up 49-40 ... The Celtics began the second half on a 11-4 run to pull ahead by 16 (60-44) ... The lead reached as many as 27 late in the contest, as Boston pulled away.
- Atlanta hit 38.2% from the field (just 3-14 from long range), while Boston made 46.9% ... The Hawks had the advantage on the glass, 41-40.
- The Hawks and Celtics meet in Game 2 on Wednesday at TD Banknorth Garden (8:00 p.m., TNT, SportSouth, 790 The Zone).
Recap | Box Score |
Post-Game Press Conference |
Game Highlights | Quotes
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Photo Gallery
Photo Of The Night
The Boston crowd was relentless, but Al Horford was unfazed en route to 20 points and 10 rebounds
The Last Word With Lang Whitaker: Three Things From Game 1
1. We can't start every game as slowly as we did tonight. Boston came out
and punched us right in the nose, and we weren't able to ever really climb back
into it. (If you were watching the national broadcast and didn't see how the
Hawks fell behind 8-2, that's because TNT
decided to show a bunch of commercials
rather than switch directly over to the Hawks game after the Sixers/Pistons.
Thanks!) The Hawks need every bit of help they can get in this series, and
falling behind early was the kiss of death.
2. The Hawks have to push the tempo. Boston actually gave us chances to
fastbreak against them, showing double teams against Bibby after nearly every
made basket, but the Hawks seemed too willing to get the ball up the court and
then just set up in our halfcourt offense. Sorry, but we're not going to
out-execute the best defensive team in the Eastern Conference over and over in
the halfcourt.
3. That said, looking for a positive out there, most of the Hawks played
terribly but they still kept it at about a 10 point deficit right until the end
of the game. Bibby, Josh Smith, Joe Johnson and Marv all had subpar nights, but
the Hawks actually played pretty well at times, cutting it to 2 at one point in
the second quarter. Hopefully the Hawks can all find their strides on the same
evening at some point along the way. And hopefully...well, since we're on
NBA.com, I'll be tactful and note that a different officiating crew might have
different results.
Momentum Changer
The Hawks withstood the Celtics opening run, and closed the gap to 35-31 midway
through the second quarter. But Sam Cassell, who played a huge part in Boston's
win at Atlanta back on April 12, went on a personal 7-0 run to push the Celtics
lead back to 11. It was as close as the Hawks got it the rest of the way.
What Went Right
- A tip of the cap to Al Horford. The should-be Rookie of the Year was the biggest bright spot for Atlanta in Game 1, scoring a game-high 20 points to go with 10 rebounds. If there is one person the Celtics will be thinking about after tonight's game, it's most definitely Horford.
- Despite the final score, I thought the Hawks played pretty well - they
just couldn't hit enough shots to make it close. The team shot 29-76 (38%)
from the field, including 3-14 (21%) from downtown. If they can improve on
those numbers but put forth similar effort, Game 2 could be a completely
different story.
- As poorly as the Hawks shot from 3-point range, that's how well the
Celtics did shoot. They finished the contest 9-16 (56%), but were even
better than that for a good portion. Boston has some terrific perimeter
scorers, so the Hawks will have to work extra hard to try to shut them down
as the series progresses.
- Mike Bibby had a tough night, scoring only 5 points and dishing out 1
assist. He's a warrior though, and I very much expect him to bounce back in
a big way on Wednesday.
Postgame Audio
