RECAP: Celtics 89, Hawks 81

FINAL

(16-17) 89 – 81 (20-12)

Key Performers:

L. Williams (ATL): 28 pts, 4 reb, 1 ast
P. Pierce (BOS): 26 pts, 9 reb, 5 ast
[FULL BOX SCORE]

Well, that was pretty pathetic, Hawks. After leading 53-38 at halftime, Atlanta only managed to score 28 points in the 2nd half, as the Celtics just crashed the boards and forced turnovers. Eventually, Pierce started to get whatever he wanted, and Bass and KG hit their open shots. The Hawks, meanwhile, couldn’t hit anything, even when they got the ball into the paint. The effort when to hell (with which Larry Drew was extremely unhappy with postgame), and, well… you get the point.

Reaction Grades: [assessed 0-10]

Josh Smith: This might have been the worst game of Josh’s career. He was 4-18 shooting with six turnovers, and he was clearly angry after the game, and he may have had a bit of a right to be. We know he going to take a lot of jumpers at this point, but he was 2-8 in the paint in this one. That just doesn’t happen, and you could tell Josh was not happy at all with the officiating. Still, FOUR OF EIGHTEEN SHOOTING AND SIX TURNOVERS! 1/10

Al Horford: As bad as Josh was, Al wasn’t much better. He missed all five of his jumpers, most of which were pretty open looks. But hey, at least he actually hit some free throws in this one! (even though those two barely went in) 4/10

Lou Williams: Lou was absolutely great in the first half, going 8-9 from the field, hitting four threes, and finishing the half with 21 points. Boston did a great job at keying in on him in the 2nd half, only allowing Lou to get off three shots, and forcing several turnovers. His 28 total points were one of the few bright spots in this one, though. 8/10

Kyle Korver: Another “meh” shooting night from Kyle, and his defense on Pierce at times was a little shaky, even though it was as bad as it looks in the box score; Pierce was just hitting everything, and there wasn’t much Korver (and then DeShawn) could do about it. (it probably didn’t help that they weren’t allowed to touch Paul… 3/10

Jeff Teague: Like Lou, Jeff had a great first half, and was continuously getting into the lane. Of course, that ceased to happen in the 2nd half, and JT couldn’t get anything going for him. Eventually, he just kind of became non-existent on offense once he realized he couldn’t get into the painted area. 6/10

Zaza Pachulia: In 14 minutes, Zaza only had two rebounds. Considering he usually gets into games for the sole purpose of rebounding, only two boards isn’t exactly what you hope for from him. Everywhere else in the game, he was pretty much invisible. 3/10

John Jenkins: Johnny played three minutes… they were unspectacular. 1/10

Anthony Tolliver: Tolliver didn’t play bad, as he actually had an and-one on KG. He had a couple of defensive miscues, but for the most part… not too terrible. 4/10

Ivan Johnson: About the middle of the third quarter when the Hawks were getting ran out of the building, the fans starting chanting Ivan Johnson’s name. That’s because he hadn’t gotten any playing time up to that point. When he finally got into the game in the fourth quarter, he literally received an ovation from the crowd, and made an immediate impact with his hustle on the boards, even going so far to crash into the Celtics’ bench for a loose ball. We could have used some more of that hustle in the third quarter when the Hawks were outscored 33-9. 6/10

Larry Drew: Larry Drew actually received a bit of an ovation to start the game when they announced his Coach of the Month award over the PA in introductions. In the first half, it was clear that he had a message for his player to constantly attack, as Lou and Jeff were getting anything they wanted. In the 2nd half, though, everything imploded, and a lot of that lays on Drew’s shoulders. When he sees that Josh is having such a difficult time, he needs to sit him down, and Ivan shouldn’t be behind Tolliver on the bench when it is clear who the superior player is between the two. LD was angry after the game, so it’s clear that the team didn’t pick up his halftime message, but he’s got to find different ways to get his team running when that happens. 3/10

The opposition: Boston won and everything, but good God, their offensive gameplan is so terrible. They get open shots, but they are such awful, awful shots. They actually shot better from mid-range (22/40) than they did around the basket (14/29). However, when they are energized, the Celtic defense is still extremely formidable, as KG still has that fire to make his teammates better on that end. (Avery Bradley doesn’t hurt, either) 6/10

Next: Atlanta at Minnesota, Tuesday, January 8th