The Atlanta Hawks fell to defeat to the Boston Celtics on Friday night — 109-102 — at TD Garden. Jalen Johnson led the Hawks in scoring with 29 points with CJ McCollum adding 21 points. For the Celtics — without Jaylen Brown — Payton Pritchard scored 36 points, and Jayson Tatum added 26 points.
Much is made by those among general NBA circles of the schedule the Hawks have played since the All-Star break, and this contest in Boston certainly represented a great opportunity for the Hawks to measure themselves against one of the Eastern Conference favorites (even without Brown).
The Hawks got off to a great start, running out to a 25-9 start behind strong play from Johnson (scoring 12 first quarter points), but towards the end of the first quarter the Hawks’ second unit couldn’t continue the Hawks’ hot start as the Celtics recovered from their early deficit to just three points by the end of the first quarter.
A balanced scoring effort in the second quarter saw the Hawks maintain their lead heading into the locker-room, but the third quarter saw a shift in the game’s momentum. Initially, the Hawks looked as though they were about to re-establish their double-digit lead, pushing their lead back to eight points with 8:30 remaining in the third — and leading to a Boston timeout.
What followed after this timeout was one of the defining stretches of the game, as the Celtics went on a 9-0 run to re-take the lead — a lead the Hawks would re-take themselves very briefly after this run, but never again for the remainder of the game.
Sam Hauser gets the run going as he comes off the screen — gaining separation from CJ McCollum — and receives the hand-off from Neemius Queta, and Hauser rises into the three:
Onyeka Okongwu, I think, played this as well as he could have, covering off the immediate threat of Hauser shooting an open three before McCollum recovers, while also savvy of the threat of Queta on the roll. McCollum could, perhaps, contest this shot better, but Hauser’s height is one of his advantages when it comes to his shooting.
In reply, the Hawks get an open shot through Johnson after the ball screen from Dyson Daniels, but when the three is missed by Johnson, and the Celtics push in transition through Pritchard and Derrick White. After the give-and-go, Pritchard pulls up for three:
After another missed three from Johnson, Pritchard uses the off-ball Queta screen, receives the ball, and hits another three-pointer after a much better contest from McCollum:
“I feel like we could have done better,” said Jalen Johnson when asked of the third quarter shot selection. “I feel like I could have taken better shots to put us in a better position, but we’re not going to be perfect the whole game…”
“They had the one stretch where they hit some threes and just rattled it,” added Hawks head coach Quin Snyder of the third quarter. “I thought we were better offensively than the score indicated. There was a couple stretches like that. You’re not going to hold a lead like we had the whole game. We responded, we competed. We’ve just got to play better.”
The Hawks’ superiority in this game was, essentially, extinguished in this run. Pritchard scored 13 of his 36 in the third quarter as the Celtics outscored the Hawks 32-22 in the period. While this 9-0 Celtics run wrestled the Hawks’ lead from under them in a matter of moments from the starting unit, the bench unit didn’t fare well towards the end of the period, and in the early exchanges in the fourth quarter.
A combination of poor shot selection and some solid Boston defense were factors in the Hawks falling further behind in the contest in the early stages of the fourth quarter, beginning with a high-screen from Jonathan Kuminga for McCollum, who gets downhill and thinks he has an opening with the defense back-pedaling only to be blocked by the recovering Walsh:
Off of the hand-off from Okongwu, McCollum tries to operate and rise behind the screen, only for another good contest from Walsh to deter McCollum, contributing to another miss:
Kuminga did not have a great first half, and the opening of the fourth quarter didn’t fare better. With the shot clock ticking under 10 seconds, Kuminga is faced by Baylor Scheierman and attempts to rise over him, and misses badly:
I understand the shot clock was beginning to reach critical point, but it’s still a bad shot — at least in execution — from Kuminga, and when he was wide open in the corner on the find from McCollum the result is another miss:
The Celtics didn’t score off of all of these misses, but it was more a case of the Hawks missing their chance to bring the lead down before the rest of the starters returned. The Celtics would soon take their lead to double digits for the first time in this game, and the Hawks faced an uphill battle for the remainder of the game. The Hawks got within four points with under three minutes to go, but against a team like the Celtics, on the road, that 11-point deficit in the fourth was too much to overcome.
There were…some interesting foul calls towards the end of the game that did not help their comeback cause. I thought the call on Alexander-Walker was fair; he clearly pushed off behind the play — it’s just not a play that is normally called for a foul behind the play for an offensive foul. The foul call on McCollum for the three Tatum free throws I think was a bit more dubious. Alas, the Hawks fall short in Boston by a margin of seven points in the end, shooting 29% in the fourth quarter (though, the Celtics did not fare much better; shooting 35% in the final frame).
After the game, on three separate occasions (twice unprompted) Jalen Johnson referenced some elements were ‘out of the Hawks’ control.’
“We’re not going to be cursing,” said Johnson postgame. “We’re not going to be on a win streak the whole year. How we’re playing these games, I know we’re just sticking to what we do best. That’s something we can continue to build on, despite the loss. I thought it was a really good game tonight, there were some things that are out of our control.”
“…There was just some things we just had to deal with as a group,” Johnson added in a separate answer. “Some things, like I said, were out of our control…”
When explicitly asked about what was out of the Hawks’ control, Johnson did not get detailed with his answer, replying, “Some things out of our control. Just how the basketball game goes sometimes.”
Johnson’s repetition of the elements outside of the Hawks’ control appeared to be a very clear reference to the officiating the Hawks felt went against them down the stretch. I don’t think all of the calls made were wrong, but I absolutely do not believe those calls would have been made in in Atlanta.
Of the aspects the Hawks could control, Quin Snyder was pleased with the opportunities the Hawks got down the stretch in this game but focused on the Hawks’ poor shooting efficiency from the field as a contributing factor to defeat.
“We were getting great looks,” said Snyder of the stretch play. “When you’re rebounding and shooting threes, we had layups that went in-and-out. To me, there were a few stretches when they got some offensive rebound put-backs, and they hit some shots. It’s going to be hard to win the game when you shoot 39% from the field is really what it comes down to. I thought we got some good looks and, frankly, to hold them to 35 threes and to defend the way we did, we just got to be a little better through a lot of things. I don’t think there’s one thing that’s going to really stand out that cost us the game. We’ve got to play better.”
What Snyder believed impacted the Hawks’ efficiency was a lack of spacing and finding each other off of drives. The Hawks talk often about ‘breaking the paint,’ and having their ‘eyes out’ on those drives; perhaps reflected in the Hawks’ 23 assists — far below their average.
“There were some times where we didn’t have our eyes out when we got into the paint,” said Snyder. “There were times also where our spacing did break down: those two things impact one another. When you’re not spaced, it’s hard to pass. When you get in the lane, you’ve kind of done your job. If you can get your eyes out, there’s a chance that we’re going to get something better.”
So, the Hawks dropped a game on the road in Boston against a top-tier playoff team — a bit unfortunate given that Brown was not part of the equation, so it wasn’t entirely reflective of a full-strength Boston-side. Bigger picture: it did give the Hawks a glimpse of their potential limitations come playoff time.
I think, firstly, defense is not this team’s main issue. The Hawks were able to get stops in the fourth quarter when it mattered. Their defense of Payton Pritchard was, at times, not brilliant in this game, but the defense was not the issue in this game. Again, without Jaylen Brown that isn’t entirely representative, but the Hawks’ defense has been excellent since the All-Star break.
The main problems are on the offensive end in the fourth quarter. When the Celtics clamped down, and moving and switching as they do — and the Hawks were chasing the game and needing buckets — Atlanta was very reliant on CJ McCollum to get the offense going. As was seen in the Detroit game that can work (though, offensive creation was difficult down the stretch in that game, too), but it is concerning just how reliant the Hawks were on McCollum, and when he shoots 8-of-20 from the field (and 2-of-7 in the fourth) that may be difficult to sustain postseason success against the better teams in the East.
McCollum has been a solid addition since his acquisition but compared to other leading guards on teams above the Hawks such as Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Jalen Brunson, Jaylen Brown, and Cade Cunningham…there is a disparity present in terms of offensive reliability in postseason situations. I can’t help but feel that the Hawks may be served with more Alexander-Walker shots (just four attempts) in the fourth quarter shots than McCollum (and 20 Alexander-Walker shots instead of just 12 for the whole game).
The other issue offensively is that Dyson Daniels is still going to be played off on the perimeter in the fourth quarter; and while he was aggressive and quick to burst/spin into the paint on perimeter catches, it remains the case that the Celtics clearly benefitted from playing off of him. Daniels’ usage percentage in the fourth was just nine percent, while McCollum’s was 33% — if teams are going to play off of Daniels in the postseason, then he needs to have the ball more often than he did last night in the fourth.
The other issue is the bench, which has to be better than it was last night in the postseason. Despite scoring six points and registering a minus+17 on the game, I actually thought Zaccharie Risacher was OK (though, 13 minutes played is a tough situation all around at this stage of the season). Jonathan Kuminga just has to play better: the Hawks actively rely on his scoring off the bench, and if they’re to have any postseason success he has to shoot better than 0-of-5 and take better quality shots when he does shoot. In contrast, Payton Pritchard stepped up for the Celtics last night, including beginning 6-of-6 from three before cooling off.
The Hawks were aware of the challenge in front of them last night, and the early playoff test it would represent both in environment and highlighting what the Hawks need to improve upon against playoff-calibre opponents
“On the margins, we’re going to be able to look and see the things that we need to do better,” said Snyder. “It’s across the board, but I think there will be some things that stand out and that’s the opportunity right there. It’s to get better and learn from it.”
“These are good teams,” added CJ McCollum. “Good opponents, hostile environments, and that’s what we need as we prepare. We need these types of moments, these types of games.”
A narrow-enough loss for the Hawks — there wasn’t much to separate the two sides: only one made three between the two sides, 19 made free throws apiece, similar number of assists, and similar points in the paint. The Hawks only committed four turnovers and scored 20 points off of the Celtics’ 16 turnovers, and the Celtics generated zero steals last night. The big disparity in their favor came in bench scoring — 55-18 — and field goal percentage, 39% versus 46%.
Atlanta played well overall, as Snyder alluded to, but it wasn’t enough to lift them over the Celtics on the road. That said, there will be plenty of takeaways internally as the Hawks continue to prepare for the postseason.
Next for the Hawks (41-33) is a home contest tonight against the Sacramento Kings (19-55). The Kings have an advantage on rest (having played a tight game against Orlando on Thursday) but the Hawks will be considered heavy favorites at home.
Until next time!
Pete Crow-Armstrong
Colton Cowser
Eugenio Suarez
