The Hawks trailed the Celtics by so many points at the end of the third quarter that State Farm Arena didn’t even invite fans in attendance to Swag Surf into the final frame. After trailing the Celtics by 43 points with the final 12 minutes of action still ahead of them, the Hawks fell 132-106 on Saturday.
Quick stats: For the second straight game, Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu led the team in scoring. He had 21 points and seven rebounds.
Celtics wing Jaylen Brown had 41 points and six rebounds
Turning point
The Hawks didn’t have much fight, with the Celtics draining 3 after 3 in the first half of Saturday’s action. The Celtics went on multiple runs in the second quarter, including a 25-8 run, where pushed the lead to 20 off a Sam Hauser 3.
The Hawks fought back with three-straight 3s from Vit Krejci, Asa Newell and Corey Kispert.
But the Celtics quickly called a timeout and responded with a 25-8 run. They put up a record 52 points in the second quarter, the most points allowed by the franchise in any quarter during the play-by-play era that dates back to 1997-98.
Highlight play
The Celtics sliced through the Hawks defense like it was butter. With Brown driving to the basket, the Hawks overlooked the numerous shooters that the Celtics had on the perimeter.
Celtics forward Sam Hauser took complete advantage. He torched the Hawks from deep, using any little bit of space to get a shot off.
When the Hawks over-rotated or over-helped and left the Celtics wing open, Hauser made them pay.
Hauser attempted a career-high 21 3-pointers, tying his career-best in makes with 10. He finished the night with 30 points and six rebounds.
What they said
“They were too comfortable. We got to be more physical the point of contact. They can close out to touch on some guys. They got going.” -- Hawks guard CJ McCollum on the Celtics 52-point quarter.
“I just try to give my all whenever I’m out there. I love playing. So I’m always going to give my all, play hard and have fun out there. Every time.” -- Okongwu on how he maintains his energy with his increased usage.
“Some of those games you say, ‘flush it.’ You flush it when a game is in a way that watching it and trying to understand it may not have an impact on you improving. I don’t think this is one of those games. We need to understand why it happened. That’s part of where we are. And then we need to do that.” -- Hawks coach Quin Snyder on how the Hawks move forward from Saturday.
Up next
The Hawks host the Bucks for their annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday afternoon.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
