“You knew coming off a 1 for 10 game he was going to have the hunger to make shots and take shots early on”.
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The Celtics awesome comeback turned out to be the worst thing that could have happened: it matched them up with the Hawks (instead of the Heat) in the first round and you don’t need de facto commissioner Bob Ryan to tell you the Hawks are a “bad matchup” for the Celtics.The Hawks’ lead plateaued until Marcus Smart hit a three going into the TV timeout.
But it’s the playoffs, a time when most rookies who saw time sparingly in the regular season like Hunter and Rozier are bench warmers who will only sniff the court during pre-game shooting and blowouts.
In addition to Bradley being out, likely for the rest of the series with a severe hamstring injury, the Celtics played without Kelly Olynyk, who was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Evan Turner and Tyler Zeller each went 0 for 3. The Hawks made things especially tough on the undersized Celtics from close in, blocking six shots (see full recap). The league went to the 24-second clock in 1954. The game was marked by one of the lowest scoring quarters in franchise history. Even by Hawks’ not-exactly-stellar playoff standards, a loss Saturday might have been the all-time flopalooza: From 19 points up to down 1-nil in the series. Smart finished 1 of 11.
Horford scored 10 of his 17 points in the second half and knocked down three three-point buckets.
But to the credit of the young players and the Celtics, both players seemed ready to play when they were given unexpected opportunities during the regular season. The Celtics needed everything the 5-foot-9 guard produced, and the team’s offense was 7.7 points per 100 possessions better when Thomas was on the floor this season. The low scoring game had Horford, and three-point specialist Kyle Korver; lead the Hawks with 17 points each.
Like the Celtics’ shooting, Harry the Hawk failed at his jump, as he tried to jump between barricades. There was a four-minute stretch in the first quarter where nobody scored, and this game was boring as hell throughout.
Every one of the 13 San Antonio Spurs that were declared active for Game 2 of their first round series with the Memphis Grizzlies played at least six minutes and registered at least two points in the team’s 26 point blowout win. Aldridge sat out the entire fourth quarter along with Leonard and Tony Parker while Tim Duncan and Danny Green made brief appearances.
Next up, the Hawks travel to Boston for Game 3 at TD Garden on Friday, April 22, with tipoff at 8:00 p.m.
If Game 5 is necessary in the Cleveland-Detroit and Atlanta-Boston series but not necessary in the San Antonio-Memphis series, Pacers-Raptors begins at 7 p.m. on NBA TV.
Tony Allen led Memphis with 12 points and Zach Randolph had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
They would rather have him, of course, but the defending champions have believed in their depth all along.
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CURRY STILL IFFY: Stephen Curry had an MRI exam on his injured right ankle, and the Warriors said nothing of concern came up on the test. The reigning MVP remained questionable for Thursday. I think I got lost a couple times watching the ball. The absence of Avery Bradley took its toll early, when almost half way through the first quarter, the Hawks led 21-3.
