Prior to their first-round matchup with the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics’ primary concern was defense.
The second-seeded Celtics won Saturday’s series opener 112-99 with a 30-point halftime lead, and they hope for more of the same when the matchup resumes Tuesday at Boston.
The Celtics were led by Jaylen Brown, who scored 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Jayson Tatum scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Derrick White scored 24 points.
Reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Savvy gave the Celtics 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks.
With Savvy feeling much improved subsequent to managing muscle fits in his neck and reliably at the very front of Boston’s guard, Atlanta was held under 100 points for only the third time the entire season and first since Dec. 7.
With 118.4 points per game at the end of the regular season, Atlanta finished ahead of any other East team in scoring. However, the team did not make a run at Boston until the second half.
After leading by 55 points to 38 in the second half, the Hawks will try to carry that momentum into the remaining games of the series. The series moves to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday following the game at Boston on Tuesday.
Trae Young, a star player for the Hawks, scored just 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting and one 3-pointer on five attempts for the Celtics. Youthful found the middle value of 26.2 focuses during the customary season.
Dejounte Murray of Atlanta had eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals in addition to scoring a team-high 24 points. Six of the Hawks’ 13 steals occurred in the second half.
