The Celtics blew a 15-point second half lead and fell to a shorthanded Hawks 117-116 on Tuesday night to win their opening matchup of pool play in Group C of the Emirates NBA Cup. The Celtics were 16.5 point favorites entering the game.
Boston shook off a sluggish start to seemingly take control of the game in the second quarter, building a double-digit lead at half behind 20 points from Jaylen Brown and 14 points from Derrick White. The Hawks played without four rotation players for the matchup including All-Star guard Trae Young, leading them to start two-way guard Keaton Wallace and play at a disadvantage all night long.
The Celtics led by as many as 15 points in the second half but the Hawks erased that deficit behind dominating in the paint with 68-32 edge down low over Boston along with 18 second chance points. Onyeka Okongwu hit a go-ahead outback in the final minute while Jaylen Brown (team-high 37 points) missed a potential game-winner as time expired. Derrick White also added 31 points in the setback for the hosts while Dyson Daniels led five different Hawks in double figures with 28 points.
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Boston had their two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 9-3 on the year. Boston’s next NBA Cup game will come against the Cleveland Cavaliers next Tuesday night at TD Garden.
The Celtics will have a quick turnaround on Wednesday night, facing off with the Brooklyn Nets for the second time this month at Barclays Center.
Here are four takeaways on the Celtics on Tuesday night:
Jaylen Brown finds his offensive groove after hip issues: The All-Star struggled with his offensive rhythm in his return following a four-game absence in Milwaukee, going just 4-of-13 from the field in 37 minutes. Brown looked far more comfortable against a lackluster Hawks defense. He erupted for 16 first quarter points and led all scorers with 20 at halftime while going 7-of-12 from the field. The small forward did most of his damage from inside the arc early but did knock down a pair of key 3s in the fourth quarter. Brown also feasted in the paint against Atlanta, getting to the free throw line 10 times and going 11-of-15 from inside the arc. He did struggle with his free throw shooting (6-of-10) late in the fourth quarter.
A surprise rotation tweak by Joe Mazzulla: Traditionally, the Celtics have split up rest time for their two stars. Most of this year, Tatum has played the entire first quarter while Brown has taken a rest in the final few minutes of the frame. However, with Brown in such a great first quarter rhythm on Tuesday night, Mazzulla elected to roll with both of his stars for the entire first quarter, the first time that’s happened during the regular season in their careers according to NBC stats guru Dick Lipe. The move worked out nicely as Boston’s reserves held their own beside Derrick White and Jrue Holiday to start the second quarter. It will be intriguing to see whether this was an anomaly or an option that Mazzulla could turn to more regularly to help his stars get into an early game rhythm.
Celtics deal with rare bout of sloppiness that bites them: The Celtics watched their 15-point second half lead get erased midway through the fourth quarter and could only blame themselves for their struggles. The team piled up a season-high 20 turnovers, a very uncharacteristic number given their previous-high on the year was 15. Most of those miscues came way of careless passes and Boston’s stars were front and center for those woes, piling up nine turnovers combined. The Hawks scored 19 points off those Boston turnovers, helping to keep them in the game all night despite a rough 3-point shooting night.
The Hawks may have won the Dejounte Murray trade already: It’s only been ten games and an injury to Murray with the Pelicans may influence my verdict here somewhat but it’s hard not to like what Atlanta got in the deal for Murray. Dyson Daniels looks like a keeper already for his defensive ability at age 21 despite a reliable 3-point stroke. Throw up two more first round picks and a serviceable backup in Larry Nance Jr. and it’s a great return for breaking up a backcourt duo in Murray and Trae Young that wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
