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Key Moment
A three-minute stretch of the third quarter dropped the Celtics into a hole they couldn’t crawl out of Wednesday night in Atlanta.
Boston trailed by just eight points with 3:46 remaining in the third period before the Hawks rattled off a 13-5 run that gave them a 16-point lead and all of the momentum.
Atlanta’s run was spurred by reserve Cam Reddish, who canned a 3-pointer and then assisted on a John Collins dunk on the next possession. The teams traded points on the next three possessions before the host Hawks canned the two biggest shots of the game.
With the Hawks leading by 10 points, Delon Wright and Danilo Gallinari drained back-to-back shots from long distance to provide Atlanta with a commanding lead. Boston was never able to cut its deficit to fewer than nine points the rest of the way before falling 110-99.
Key Player
Jayson Tatum got on track Wednesday night in Atlanta by dropping a game-high 34 points on the host Hawks. The game’s next-best scoring total was 20 points, scored by Atlanta’s John Collins.
While Boston didn’t win the game, Tatum finding an offensive rhythm was a beautiful sight given the All-Star’s shooting struggles thus far in the season. He canned 12 of his 23 shots, giving him the most makes of any player in the game. His field goal percentage of 52.2 percent also stands as his highest since shooting 63.2 percent from the field 11 days ago in Dallas, and his third-highest of the season.
Tatum was great across the board during this contest. He also led Boston in rebounds with nine, dished out five assists for the second-best total on the team, and blocked one shot during his nearly 38 minutes of action.
Box Score Nuggets
- Marcus Smart and Trae Young tied for the game high in assists with 11 apiece.
- Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
- The Celtics grabbed nine steals, led by three from Dennis Schroder.
- Clint Capela led the game in rebounds with 12.
- Boston limited Young to 4-for-12 shooting from the field.
- Cam Reddish came off of Atlanta's bench to score 19 points, a total which was eight more than Boston's entire bench total.
- Grant Williams got a spot start and scored 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting.
- Both teams scored 44 points in the paint.
- Young made all 10 of his free throws, while the Celtics only made 14 freebies as a team.
- Josh Richardson scored all 11 of Boston's reserve points.
Quote of the Night
Ime Udoka on what led to the Celtics' loss in Atlanta