The Atlanta Hawks were defeated by the Boston Celtics 129-121 on Sunday night, missing out on a chance to even the series before heading back to Boston for Game 5. It will be an uphill battle for Atlanta to win the series from here, as team’s who trail 3-1 in the NBA playoffs wind up advancing just 5% of the time (13-258 all-time record).
After a rough first quarter, that saw Boston jump out to a 35-25 advantage, the Hawks managed to cut the lead to 4 with 3:07 to go in the second quarter before Boston went on a 12-4 over the next three minutes to extend the margin to 12 heading into the break. Marcus Smart had 5 points and 3 assists during this run – including a back-breaking three with 3.1 seconds left.
The Hawks came out firing in the third, shooting 60% from the floor in the quarter and trailed by just 5 points going into the final frame. Atlanta was within striking distance on a few separate occasions in the 4th, however the Celtics responded every time it looked like the Hawks were getting some momentum and eventually proved to be too much to handle for the home side.
The “Jay’s” (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown) were locked in all night long, pouring in 31 points apiece and either scored or assisted on 32 of Boston’s 37 fourth quarter points. Marcus Smart finished with 19 points, Derrick White added 18 points – with 15 of those coming in the first-half. Malcolm Brogdon chipped in14 points. All three Boston guards’ were remarkably efficient tonight, combining to shoot 21-38 (55%) from the field and 8-19 (42%) from three-point range. The ‘Timelord,’ Robert Williams, posted a double-double, finishing 13 points and 15 rebounds off the bench.
Trae Young was the high-man for the Hawks, finishing with 35 points, with 21 of them coming in the final frame. Young struggled with his efficiency, going just 11-26 from the floor overall – and was just 5-15 through the first three quarters. While Young had a hard time putting the ball in the basket for most of the night, his passing was on another level as he finished with 15 assists and just 1 turnover after averaging 7.7 assists and 4.7 turnovers in the first three games of the series.
Dejounte Murray finished with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. After averaging 13 points on 40% field-goal shooting through the first three games of the series, De’Andre Hunter had a nice bounce-back game tonight, pouring in 27 points on 11-17 shooting. Clint Capela finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds. John Collins struggled, going just 1-9 from the field, and finished with just 5 points and 5 rebounds in 25 minutes of action.
Atlanta’s bench unit was quiet tonight, with Bogdan Bogdanovic and Saddiq Bey scoring just 8 and 5 points respectively. Onyeka Okongwu finished with 6 points and 4 rebounds. Jalen Johnson did not play in the second-half, and put up 2 points 2 rebounds, an assist and a steal in just 5 minutes of action.
Game 5 will tip off at 7:30 p.m. eastern on Tuesday night from Boston’s TD Garden. The Hawks have their backs against the wall now, trailing Boston 3-1. Will they go home Tuesday or force the series back to Atlanta for a Game 6?
