PORZINGIS, WHITE SPARK CELTICS TO 125-117 WIN OVER HAWKS
Derrick White scored twelve of his twenty-one points in the fourth quarter, and Kristaps Porzingis scored thirty-one to help the Boston Celtics defeat the Atlanta Hawks 125-117 on Wednesday night.
It seems that Kristaps Porzingis took it personally when he was left off of the Eastern Conference All-Star squad.
In his first game back following the rejection, Porzingis scored a career-high 31 points in the Atlanta Hawks victory. The brilliant thing about his performance was that he pitted it against Trae Young, a player who was selected as an All-Star ahead of him.
With 20 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in the game, Jayson Tatum helped the Celtics win their seventh straight at home against the Hawks to improve to 24-3 overall. Jaylen Brown ended with 15 points, and Al Horford added 14 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.
Horford stated, “I simply believe that brings us in a different dimension offensively when we’re playing like that and moving it like that.” “We have plenty of weapons available that it becomes extremely difficult to stop us.”
As the Celtics shot 17 for 49 from beyond the arc, including 9 of 16 in the fourth quarter to shut out the troublesome Hawks, Brown was the only starting player for Boston who failed to make a 3-pointer.
Derrick White loves beating buzzers 🚨 pic.twitter.com/dra5LlhH57
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 8, 2024
At 25, Saddiq Bey led Atlanta in scoring. For the Hawks, Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu each scored 19 points, while Trae Young contributed 20 points and 10 assists. Despite having a 49-45 rebounding lead and only nine turnovers compared to Boston’s 14, Johnson’s 15 rebounds did not help Atlanta overcome the Celtics’ 52.7% (49-93) shooting from the field.
Coach Quin Snyder of Atlanta stated, “When you shoot, then you’re going to need to take some shots against a team that shoots it as well as Boston does.”
Before losing to the Los Angeles Clippers 149-144 on Sunday night, Atlanta had won four games in a row. The Hawks managed to stay within seven points for the duration of the first three quarters, but they were unable to hold off the Celtics’ early fourth-quarter push.
In the second half, Atlanta made just 4 of 17 3-pointers, demonstrating their poor shooting performance.
“I felt that the three looks we got were tidy. We simply weren’t accommodated by the ball,” Snyder remarked.
The Hawks managed to close the gap to five points in the last minute, but it was too late to complete a comeback.
Boston coach Joe Mazzulla stated, “I thought the way we approached the game tonight was kind of how I prefer our strategy to be.” “It was never something we wanted to end. We never wanted things to be slightly simpler. We simply kept working on the game, believing that it was the only area in which we could survive.
In the first 4 minutes of the fourth quarter, White drained three 3-pointers and finished the game 4 for 5 from long range. With 8:01 remaining in the game, he made his third 3-pointer of the quarter to increase the lead to 109-98, Boston’s largest of the game. Boston increased their lead to 13 points when he scored another from outside.
“I thought we actually did separate when it was necessary. After a few crucial stops, our players made some huge shots, according to Horford.
Derrick White Regarding Al Horford performance talked with media,
“Al is incredible. Really, that’s all there is to say about Al. He performs a great deal of work for us both on and off the court that helps us win games. He’s incredible.”
The Atlanta Hawks outscored the Celtics 8 to 18 in second chance points. In terms of fast break points, the Hawks outperformed the Celtics with 18 points as opposed to 6 points.
Brown made his way back into the game after sitting out it on Sunday due to a back issue, but Jrue Holiday was out for the Celtics due to a sprained right elbow.
Due to an injury in his left hip muscle, Hawks center Clint Capela missed his team’s second straight game.
Boston Celtics will host Washington Wizards on Friday night.
Hawks will play at Philadelphia on Friday night.
Celtics are currently team with best team record in NBA with 39-12 record and are top seed in Eastern conference https://x.com/NBA/status/1755474024954519634?s=20
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