The non-Millsap, non-Teague Hawks shot a putrid 14-51, and in overtime it was Amir Johnson and the undersized Celtics front-line that dominated (though point guards Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart drove the Celtics in regulation).
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Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens, having unsuccessfully dispatched all of his big men to slow Millsap during Sunday’s Game 4 of an Eastern Conference first-round series, looked at the 6-foot-4 Smart during a timeout with about nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and tasked him with guarding the 6-8 Millsap, who had already produced the most points in an Atlanta Hawks playoff game in almost three decades. Millsap came into this game having scored a combined 12 points in the previous two games before turning in the night of his pro life with 45 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Atlanta has now clanged its way into a trip back to Boston on Thursday, with the at-best hope of clinching the series on the road following a Game 5 win in Georgia on Tuesday.
They created more wide-open opportunities than any team in the league, by a mile, and the trend has carried over to the playoffs.
Paul Millsap did something no Hawk has done since Mr. Hawk himself, Dominique Wilkins, unforgettably poured 47 points in Game 7 at the old Boston Garden in the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Celtics coach turned to Marcus Smart and essentially said, “You’re up next”. Atlanta led by 10 but the Celtics went on a 10-3 run down the stretch in the quarter, finishing with an 8-0 keyed by two 3-pointers by Jerebko. The Hawks stopped going to Millsap long enough for the Celtics to catch their breath and catch up by the end of the third quarter.
Isaiah leads all players in scoring this postseason, averaging over 28 points per game. “I thought Marcus just played a great game, period”, Celtics coach Brad Stevens told reporters. “You knew coming off a 1 for 10 game he was going to have the hunger to make shots and take shots early on”. For Boston to win its simple.
The Celtics evened their first-round series with Jerebko notching a second consecutive double-double for the first time since Tracy McGrady started for the New York Knicks. In Game 1, the Celtics didn’t play their best basketball in the first half, however, were clearly the superior team in the second half. Instead, it turns into a three-point play for the Hawks.
BOSTON — Jeff Teague sat slumped in his chair as he iced his knee, the salty look on his face saying all you needed to know about the state of the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night.
The Hawks led by 16 midway through the third and still led by 11 before Boston scored the last eight points of the quarter.
The Hawks need to find a solution for Isaiah Thomas and Jonas Jerebko, or else Boston might be able to steal one in Atlanta.
While Cleveland and San Antonio breezed through the opening round with four-game sweeps, the Hawks-Celtics series is right back where it started, essentially a best-of-three heading into a potentially pivotal contest at Philips Arena.
“I’m a basketball player”, he said.
Stevens then tried to address what specifically went wrong in the first quarter the last time they were in Atlanta.
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If there is one thing that the victories in Games 3 and 4 have not rectified, it is the Celtics’ mentality in away games. Kelly Olynyk is questionable with a shoulder injury. If you make them uncomfortable they will not be effective. He logged just 3:35 and finished with no points and two rebounds. Backup guard Dennis Schroder, at 22 their youngest player, appeared to have the self-confidence booed out of him by the Boston fans, who vilified him with every touch Sunday. It’s easy to single out Jeff Teague’s final possession in regulation as the biggest mistake, but after looking at what we saw in those clips, it’s unusual that Millsap would get less space to work with later in the game.
