The Atlanta Hawks were in action on Monday evening to face the Boston Celtics. It was just two games ago that these two saw each other, with the Celtics walking away with the victory. The Hawks came into this one with a rest advantage as the Celtics just faced the Charlotte Hornets yesterday.
Jayson Tatum and Neemias Queta were ruled out for this matchup, and Jock Landale was out for the Hawks due to illness.
The Hawks were active on defense early, which led to an easy bucket in transition for Onyeka
Okongwu.
Dyson Daniels got two feet in the paint on this bucket.
The Celtics made a little separation as the quarter progressed, but the Hawks were right there. Mouhamed Gueye came in and made his presence felt in the paint.
The defense continued to make plays, and this time it was Jonathan Kuminga with a big block on Jaylen Brown.
Zaccharie Risacher knocked down two three-pointers during his stint in the quarter, which were big in keeping the Hawks in the game. They trailed 30-29 going into the second.
Kuminga cut his way through the basket for this easy layup.
Daniels got in rhythm on this three-pointer to extend the Hawks’ lead.
Brown exposed the ball with his left hand on this one, and Daniels came to in to steal it and score on the other end.
It was a competitive half, and both teams went into the locker room tied at 54.
It was a good start to the quarter for the Hawks, and Okongwu was able to knock down back-to-back three-pointers to give them the lead. Later on, Johnson found Daniels for an alley-oop.
Okongwu continued to light it up in the third.
The Hawks kept their lead throughout the quarter, and it was what they did on defense that helped them. On offense, they continued to get good looks at the rim.
Kuminga’s physicality led him to this and-one.
Daniels knocked down another three-pointer.
The Hawks went into the fourth leading 90-76.
McCollum got it going for the Hawks to start the quarter.
Okongwu knocked down another three-pointer.
The Hawks built a 21-point lead in the fourth, but the Celtics started to chip away at their deficit. The Hawks were able to weather the storm just a bit, but the Celtics continued to knock down shots, and got their deficit down to single digits.
Luckily for the Hawks, there just wasn’t enough time left for the Celtics to keep making their comeback.
Johnson finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, Okongwu finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, Daniels finished with 18 points, and Alexander-Walker finished with 17 points.
The Hawks will be back in action on Wednesday against the Orlando Magic.
