Banner Town Breakdown: Walker Leads the Way as Celtics Pound Hawks
AP Photo | Michael Dwyer
Kemba Walker scored 28 points to lead six Celtics in double figures as the Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks 121-109 to earn a split of this two-game set.
Jayson Tatum scored 25, while Jaylen Brown and Tristan Thompson had 17 points each. Daniel Theis also pumped in 14 points in his return, and Robert Williams had an efficient outing with 12 points, 7 boards, 2 steals, and 4 blocks in 16 minutes of outstanding play.
Atlanta’s Trae Young led the Hawks with 31 points and 11 assists while Clint Capela added 24 points and 15 boards for the Hawks, who lost for the fifth time in their last six games.
Walker came out aggressive from the opening tip and scored 7 points early while freeing up teammates for scoring opportunities. The Celtics led 33-22 after the first quarter. Walker turned up the heat in the second quarter scoring 12 points and getting anywhere on the floor he wanted to. He drove the lane at will, moving the Atlanta defense around and set up teammates to score.
Theis and Thompson dominated the paint as a tandem on offense, running the high/low offense almost to perfection, as Robert Williams was contesting shot after shot on defense. Those 3 players combined for 10 of the 12 blocked shots the Celtics had tonight. Through 3threequarters the Celtics put together their most dominant three quarters of basketball and led 66-41 at the half. It was 98-73 by the end of the third quarter.
Williams made his presence known on the offensive end as well, catching several lobs and dunking with authority. Even further, the shots he did not block he changed the trajectory of with his activity in the paint.
The Celtics then started off slow in the fourth quarter which allowed the Hawks to cut a 98-73 down to single digits at 108-99. Theis then scored 8 points 108-99 after a Trae Young three-pointer. He closed out the game leading to a 121-109 win for the C’s. Their next game will be against the Pelicans on Sunday at 3:30 PM EST on NBC Sports Boston.
