The Boston Celtics fell back to their losing ways, dropping a home contest to the Atlanta Hawks 122 – 114 despite a solid late push by the Celtics to get back in it, the early dearth of defensive cohesiveness and general lack of bodies proving too much yet again.
Boston was led by forward Jayson Tatum with 35 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, with fellow wing Jaylen Brown adding 22 points on a rough 6-of-22 shooting night and Tristan Thompson a very solid 14 points, 7 boards and 3 steals. Payton Pritchard added 11 points off the bench, but the connected play and ball movement that helped win the night before was evidently sitting this game out with Kemba Walker.
Boston now falls back to .500 with a 14 – 14 record, and holds the fifth-best record in the East outright as a result.
They’ll get a chance to even the score against the Hawks on Friday when they host Atlanta for the second part of a COVID-19 necessitated home-and-home series.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
