The Atlanta Hawks traveled up to Massachusetts to take on the Boston Celtics on Super Bowl Sunday. This game was a perfect example of “A Tale of Two Halves.” The Hawks jumped out to a 10-point lead at the half, but another lop-sided third quarter, which saw the Celtics outscore the Hawks 42-23, led to Atlanta’s doom. Boston outscored Atlanta 60-40 in the second-half on their way to a 105-95 victory, and a league-leading eighth straight win. This marks Atlanta’s third loss in their last four games.
Atlanta played a great first half, they paced the Celtics and had a good rhythm to their offense. Trae Young was getting wherever he wanted on the floor and did a nice job of finding his teammates. Young finished with 30 points and 10 assists for another double-double effort, but only shot 9-of-26 from the field overall. In the second-half, buckets were tough to come by for the Hawks, and Young tried to shoulder the load, albeit in a losing effort.
Bogdan Bogdanovic gave his best effort to keep Atlanta in the game, finishing with 26 points, while hitting some timely three’s. Besides the duo of Young and Bogdanovic, the Hawks only had one other scorer finish in double digits, and that was De’Andre Hunter with 10 points.
The Celtics’ Jason Tatum, who only had only four points in the first half, finished with 38 on the night. Tatum was all over the court and hit tough shot after tough shot, during the second portion of this ball game. The Hawks seemed lost on defense once again, and the offense completely stalled in the third and fourth quarters. After the Celtics took the lead in the third quarter, they did not look back.
The same inconsistencies that have plagued Atlanta all year, were once again at the forefront of this loss. A perfect example was a defensive sequence from Atlanta late in the fourth quarter. Clint Capela left his assignment to come over and help Hunter, who was already guarding Tatum one-on-one. Tatum missed the shot, but because of the help defense by Capela, this left Robert Williams III wide open under the basket for an easy rebound-and-finish.
Atlanta fans have seen sequences like this all throughout this season. The team has had a difficult job of staying with their man and forcing a critical stop. Couple the shaky defensive play with any lack of offense, and this has become a common recipe for losing.
This was Atlanta’s final chance at getting back to .500 before the All-Star black. Atlanta now sits at 26-30 on the season, still good enough for the Eastern Conference’s tenth seed. They have two more games before the break: at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers and on the road against Orlando Magic. The sense of urgency needs to be apparent in these final two games, as the Washington Wizards and New York Knicks are not far behind for the East’s final play-in spot.
Atlanta will try and pick up the win Tuesday night at home against Cavs. These two teams last played on New Year’s Eve, where Atlanta escaped with a victory on the road. The season series is tied 1-1, and the Hawks will play the Cavs one more time in March, due to a postponement because of a Covid outbreak back in December. Tip-off against Cleveland is at 7:30 p.m. from Atlanta’s State Farm Arena.
