BOSTON – Jayson Tatum had 29 points and an emphatic dunk to end a crucial late run and the Boston Celtics defeated the Atlanta Hawks 119-106 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the first round playoff series go.
Derrick White added 26 points and seven rebounds, and Jaylen Brown scored 18 points. Boston outplayed Atlanta 64-40 in color.
Dejounte Murray led the Hawks with 29 points and Trae Young had 24.
Game 3 takes place in Atlanta on Friday night.
Down 20, the Hawks trimmed it to single digits late in the third quarter.
With Atlanta trailing 74-57, Young went to the bench and sat out the final 7:07 of the period, briefly visiting the locker room.
His teammates took on without him, outplaying the Celtics 24-16 to finish fourth within nine – at 90-81.
Young returned to start the final quarter and scored four straight points with just over five minutes to play to put it 104-95.
But the Celtics responded with a 15-2 run – with a 3-pointer and a dunk from Tatum – to bring it back to 119-97 with 2-16 left.
While the Hawks made better shooting contact on Tuesday, the Celtics upped their overall energy by a notch, repeatedly beating Atlanta on the court in the transition and urging Hawks to loose balls.
A glaring example came in the second quarter when Brown cleared the ball as De’Andre Hunter drove past.
Malcolm Brogdon caged it and threw it ahead of a sprinting Brown who had split between Young and Dejounte Murray when they arrived caught ball while watching.
START FASTER
After putting themselves in a hole in Game 1, the Hawks ramped up their aggression early in Game 2.
They hit eight of their first 14 shots to take an early 22-11 lead, answering coach Quin Snyder’s plea for his team not to miss open shots given what was unfolding in the opening game.
The Celtics responded by picking things up on the defensive end, forcing nine straight misses and five turnovers from Atlanta during a more than four-minute stretch.
It helped Boston end the opening quarter with a 17-3 run that was cut short by one 42 foot buzzer beater by Brogdon.
TIP INS
Hawks: After leading 22-11 in the first quarter, the Hawks went 29-10 over the next 10 minutes of game action, committing six turnovers and shooting 4 of 16 from the field.
Celtics: Lead 61-49 at halftime. … Willliam’s missed putback at the 5:01 mark of the second quarter was his first miss of the series. He had nailed 10 for 10. …outplayed the Hawks 18-6 in the first quarter.
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