The Hawks are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 Tuesday games and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games overall.
Advertisement
The Celtics looked to be on the ropes early on in the series after dropping the first two games to the Hawks, including an 89-72 blowout loss in Game 2 in which they failed to cover as 6 1/2-point underdogs, extending their current straight-up losing streak in Atlanta to six games. Smart had previously averaged 9.6 points in the first three games while shooting a woeful 33 percent. “Give Indiana credit, they’ve done a good job on DeMar and Kyle”, Raptors coach Dwane Casey told reporters. Smart refused to surrender quality post position and even stole one entry pass. The Hawks as a team were well on their way to a dismal 37 percent shooting from the floor, but the crafty Millsap was creating havoc and making most of his buckets.
It’s the same scenario for the night’s other game, which has the Toronto Raptors looking to regain the upper hand when they host the pesky Indiana Pacers. Check out the complete line history here.
The very bad offensive day for Atlanta paved the way for the Celtics to erase a 16-point second-half deficit and take over the momentum in this series. “We feel comfortable with where we are at and where we are going and we are going to continue to press”.
“We’ve got to come out and take the game”, Green said. Hill is averaging 17.5 points in the past two games while Mahinmi’s contributions were stunning after he averaged 4.3 points and four rebounds over the first three games.
The shooting disparity between both teams spilled over into the fourth quarter and that’s when the hero of the game emerged for the Celtics in Marcus Smart.
“At one point, you just start throwing darts at the dartboard”, Stevens said. But at the end of the day, they’re our guys.
Stevens is more concerned about the Celtics not falling behind 24-3, like they did in the first six minutes of Game 2. They also lost each of their past five playoff OT games.
Thomas also guarded Jeff Teague on the final play of regulation, preventing him from getting a shot off, and blocked Millsap with 63 seconds left in overtime and the Hawks trailing by only four points.
One game after scoring a career-high 42 points – and one day after escaping suspension for taking a swipe at Atlanta’s Dennis Schroder – Thomas scored 28, including the last five of overtime to lead Boston to a 104-95 victory in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series. “If we start just halfway decent on the road we’ll be alright”. Atlanta is a veteran group and doesn’t plan on rolling over now that the momentum has shifted.
“We need to be better”, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said Monday. The game is scheduled for an 8:30 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on TNT.
Smart, only the second player since 1992 to register at least 28/8/5 off the bench in an National Basketball Association playoff game, scored 11 consecutive points for the Celtics in the fourth quarter. Brad Stevens may not be a ideal coach, but he rarely draws up play calls as useless as this one. “And we’ve talked about it before”.
Millsap amassed 26 first-half points and finished with a playoff career-high 45 along with 13 rebounds. “He might take a shot at times you want back, but he’s the key to our team winning”.
Advertisement
Notice how Millsap never has a chance to establish his positioning after he catches the ball for the second time in the clip.
