Game six between the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics was not a very exciting one. The Celtics led early, 9-5, but that didn’t last long. The Hawks called a time out, and came out of that time out with an 8-0 run. Only Jonas Jerebko, Isaiah Thomas, and Evan Turner scored for Boston in the first quarter, with Jerebko leading the way with eight points. The Hawks blocked five shots in the first quarter, 3 of which came from Paul Millsap.
The Hawks began the second quarter on a 12-4 run. The Celtics shot just 28% in the first half, and as a result, scored just 33 points in the half, to Atlanta’s 41. The third quarter was all Atlanta. A three by Al Horford capped off an 8-0 run, extending their lead to 17. Horford took the quarter over, scoring 13 points. By the end of the quarter, Boston trailed 80-59.
The Hawks were absolutely on fire. In the second half, they missed just five of their first 23 attempts from the floor. Their largest lead in the fourth quarter was 28, when they led 89-61.
However, Boston had not given up yet. Inspired shooting by Jae Crowder, who had been ice cold all series long, as well as some great play from Isaiah Thomas, sparked a 22-6 Celtics run to get them within 12 points. The energy, aggressiveness, and shot-making that had been lacking all game long for the C’s had finally arrived, but it was too late. The Celtics never got within single digits, and the Hawks won the game, 104-92
The Hawks won with a balanced scoring effort: Millsap scored 17, Kyle Korver scored 14, and Al Horford and Kent Bazemore scored 15 apiece. Mike Scott chipped in 12 off the bench, and Dennis Schröder 10. Millsap also grabbed eight rebounds, and swatted four shots. Korver surprisingly led the team in rebounding with nine.
Isaiah Thomas led the game in scoring with 25, but shot 9-25, including 1-7 from downtown.. Evan Turner shot a horrendous 4-17 from the field, and 0-4 from deep.
There was a massive gap in the shooting numbers for these teams. The Hawks shot 51.4% from the field, and the Celtics shot just 36.2%. The Celtics also shot 7-32 on threes, which pales in comparison to Atlanta’s 8-24 mark. The bright spot for Boston tonight: 17-18 from the free throw line.
The Celtics’ season is over, but they have a lot to look forward to, particularly the Brooklyn Nets’ first-round draft pick. The draft lottery is May 17.
Atlanta will move on, and face off against the defending conference champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
