Celtics Head Into All-Star Break With Big Win Over Hawks
In the words of Drama from the t.v. show Entourage: “Victory!”
Evan Turner hit a running floater with .2 sec remaining, giving the Celtics a thrilling 89-88 victory over the Hawks Wednesday night. This completed a comeback in which the Celtics were down by 14 with 8:27 remaining.
Jared Sullinger scored 15 of his team high 17 points in the second half. He also had 15 rebounds in the victory.
The Celtics trailed from the start, leading only for those last .2 seconds after Turner hit the winner.
“I’m never really nervous about taking a big shot,” said Turner after the game.
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The Hawks wasted little time in showing why they have 43 wins this season. Taking advantage of Boston missing 10 of their first 11 shots, the Hawks were up 16-2 early behind 8 points from Al Horford.
The Celtics shooting woes continued, hitting on only 5-27 (18.5%) in the first quarter, including an abysmal 1-11 from beyond the arc.
The Celtics forced 4 Atlanta turnovers and trailed by ten to end the first, 23-13.
The Celtics seemed to shake off the early cobwebs as they got within 7 early in the second on a Brandon Bass layup.
Then the basket closed again on the Celtics.
The Hawks took advantage and extended their lead to 45-27 with 2:43 remaining in the half.
The Celtics trailed 49-34 at the half. Both teams struggled from 3-pt range, but the Hawks were able to punish the Celtics inside with Horford, who had 12 points and 4 rebounds at the half.
Marcus Thornton had 8 points off the bench to lead Boston at the half.
The Celtics, behind Thornton and Sullinger, were able to close the gap to 72-61 heading into the frantic fourth quarter.
The Celtics, though only shooting 32.3% on the game, rattled off 26 points in the last 8 minutes. The team only missed 4 shots in this stretch and forced six Atlanta turnovers.
Marcus Smart recovered from a tough second quarter (1-7 from the field, 2 fouls and 3 turnovers) to hit a huge three with 2:17 remaining to bring the Celtics within two, 84-82.
After an Atlanta basket, Avery Bradley knocked down a three with 1:39 remaining. Horford and Sullinger exchanged baskets as time ticked away.
Sullinger missed a layup with :35 left that would have given the Celtics the lead. Solid defense forced Jeff Teague to miss a jumper for the Hawks, setting up the final play.
Thornton ended with 14 points, while Turner had 12 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds.
Horford ended with 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks.
The Celtics shot 19-20 (95%) from the free throw line.
It certainly wasn’t a pretty game, but as they say, a win is a win. Some nice little momentum to take with them into the All-Star break and some much needed rest.