The Atlanta Hawks got out to an early lead at the beginning of their Round One battle with the Boston Celtics, entering halftime with a 17 point lead. In the second half though, the Celtics led a furious comeback, eventually tying the basketball game, and even taking the lead at one point with just above 3 minutes left. Atlanta was able to get a three point lead with 30 seconds left, but Boston had the ball. The C’s found an open man, but, sadly for them, this open man was Evan Turner, a poor three-point shooter. After the shot, Atlanta was able to make their free throws and pull away with the 102-101 victory.
On the night, the Hawks had multiple players step up and perform well. Al Horford led the way for them with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 37 minutes of action. Behind him was Jeff Teague and Kent Bazemore who both scored 23 points. Teague had a double-double with 12 assists as well, and Bazemore showed off his athleticism by grabbing 8 rebounds and blocking 2 shots. Mike Scott was a key factor on the night too, coming off of the bench to score 14 points on 6 for 9 shooting in 18 minutes of action.
Despite the loss, Boston’s backcourt played extremely well just as you would expect. Isaiah Thomas showed us his skill by scoring 27 points while assisting on 8 passes and he stole the ball 1 time. Avery Bradley was the C’s next best scorer, putting up a solid 18 points on 7 for 16 shooting. Sadly though, Bradley was injured at the end of the game and may potentially be out for the rest of the series (hamstring). Marcus Smart had a solid basketball game off of the bench too, scoring 15 points in 29 minutes on 5 for 10 shooting including making 3 of his 6 threes.
Before game 1, we knew this would be a fun series. After game 1, we see that it did nothing but live up to the hype. The Hawks may have took this one, but the series is far from over. Look for Boston to turn it around, and possibly take game 2 from the Hawks in Phillips Arena.
