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Celtics take defensive approach into Game 2 vs. Hawks



For the Boston Celtics, defense was a focus entering their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks. After one game, all is going to plan as the second-seeded Celtics built a 30-point halftime lead and won 112-99 in Saturday’s series opener and hope for more of the same when the matchup resumes Tuesday at Boston. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 29 points and 12 rebounds, while Jayson Tatum had 25 points with 11 rebounds and Derrick White added 24 points.

Reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart gave the Celtics 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks.

“He’s one of the best, if not the best defender that we have in this league,” Tatum said of Smart. “Just extremely special on that side of the ball and he shows it night in and night out.”

With Smart feeling better after working through muscle spasms in his neck and consistently at the forefront of Boston’s defense, Atlanta was held under 100 points for just the third time all season and first since Dec. 7.

Atlanta finished the regular season scoring more points than any team in the East with 118.4 per game, but it was not until the second half that the team made a run at Boston.

The Hawks had a 55-38 scoring advantage in the second half and will look to carry the momentum into the remainder of the series. After Tuesday’s game at Boston, the series moves to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday.

“I think our offense has to help our defense,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “Some of that will be as simple as making an open shot and not having to defend in transition. And then there’s other things. We’ve battled our spacing. And we’ve got to continue to really drill down on that, and be unbelievably precise with where we are on the court.”

The Celtics held Hawks star Trae Young to 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting and just one 3-pointer in five attempts. Young averaged 26.2 points during the regular season.


“Just making everything (Young) does as tough as possible,” Smart said of the Celtics’ defensive plan. “He’s a great player, a great scorer. He’s going to make you work. He’s going to hit some tough shots. That’s OK. … The confidence doesn’t get going when those shots are tough.”

Atlanta’s Dejounte Murray scored a team-leading 24 points with eight rebounds, six assists and three steals. The Hawks logged 13 steals, with six of those in the second half.

“We came out that first half, and I don’t think we (were) really ready,” Murray said. “I don’t think we were really competing and really locked in like we’ve been in practice and like we should have been. But it’s OK. It’s a long series, and in that second half, that’s who we are.”

atlantabbq99 wrote:

Ball4life32 wrote:

atlantabbq99 wrote:Hawks vs Bucks, game 5. No Trae, big time playoff game, with not that much pressure, I thought if Collins could get 40 and hit some big shots in the 4th, dominate and make the game bend to his will, then he would show in one game that he is a legit max player.

If I was Collin's agent, I would have said to him before game 5, "hey John, this is the game the big pay day game, you get 40 and the win and i'll get you max this summer!"

That didn't happen. Just an okay game from Collins. He is no max player. He is showing he is not a Klay and more of a Harrison Barns. If somebody overpays for Collins, Hawks might have to take some time to think about it because the answer is not clear.

Bc again Collins doesn’t fit best when he just sits on the perimeter bc his weakness is ball handling. He’s best around the rim or mid range area but the lane can get clogged at times when he’s out there with Capela.

But Hawks just gave up 123 points and it was literally to 4 players. They didn’t need 40 they needed better defense/rebounding. Hawks offense was fine outside of the slow start. This game kind of reminded me of the Pacers game late in the year where they let the trio of McConnell, Levert and Sabonis beat them. But yeah they need to do much better on the boards if they want to win in 7.

Well that is on Collins. It would have been nice to have one Paul George type of game from him, and put up 40/15 with no Giannis and only having a slower Lopez.

We were always hoping that Collins turns into an Amare type of player for Trae.

Overpaying Collins might be like overpaying Tobis Harris. Harris puts up ok numbers but did nothing in crunch time and did not live up to his max contract.

Jamaaliver wrote:^I kind of wish DeJounte would tell Trae the exact opposite of the above message.

"Trust the coach. Trust the system. Cause doing it your way isn't working and hasn't worked in years."

Jamaaliver wrote: