In Jalen Johnson’s return, the Hawks faced the Celtics in Boston on Saturday night. After a win against the Bulls missing some major players, Trae Young and De’Andre Hunter also returned to the lineup.
Dyson Daniels scored first on a put back, and it was good to see Johnson scoring in the paint again for this Hawks team. However, the Hawks threw four turnovers in the first four minutes, leading to some easy buckets for the Celtics. Coach Quin Snyder had seen enough and used his first timeout after the Celtics took a 14-6 lead. The Hawks trailed 33-21 after the first quarter. As a team, they had eight made field goals and six turnovers.
The Hawks played the second quarter much closer. Trae Young tied the game up at 40 with roughly four minutes to go, throwing a couple pump fakes into a nice layup.
Trae hit ’em with the play-action fake. pic.twitter.com/nQYEALtHYy
— Hawks On FanDuel Sports Network (@FanDuelSN_Hawks) January 19, 2025
Okongwu scored 11 points in the second quarter alone, including two threes from the corner. They were able to enter halftime with a 52-48 lead. Impressively, the Celtics didn’t even get a shot attempt up on their final possession due to some good defense from the Hawks. Luke Cornet had been a problem all half, scoring 12 points with six rebounds and four steals.
The Hawks opened up the second half playing stifling defense, and peanut butter and jelly were in full effect.
P
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J pic.twitter.com/8LTcDBRzHl— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 19, 2025
After going scoreless for over four minutes, the Celtics found stride again and recaptured the lead. The Celtics took an eight point lead before Young banked in a one footed three on the final possession of the third quarter. The Hawks entered the fourth trailing by five.
The Celtics extended the lead out to 10 before the Hawks used a timeout. After this timeout, Krejci put in a three and a deep two-pointer. The Hawks brought the score to 87-84, a three point deficit.
Payton Pritchard caught fire late, pouring in threes in the fourth quarter. It was 98-97 in the Celtics’ favor with less than two minutes remaining. Trae Young then nailed a huge three-pointer to take the lead. With a tie game, Young found Hunter wide open but he couldn’t get the three to go. Jaylen Brown hit a tough midrange on the the other end to take a two point lead. The Hawks turned it over, then forced a Celtics turnover. To no surprise. Mazzulla played the foul game and sent Young to the line.
Trae Young would tie the game up with free throws and the Celtics had a chance to win it with 3.5 seconds left. Tatum missed the potential game-winner and sent this one into overtime.
The game started getting chippy in overtime, with Okongwu and Tatum getting into it after a jump ball. Overtime also featured incredible shot making. The Celtics would again have possession with the Hawks up one point and 32 seconds remaining. The Hawks put together a great defensive possession to get the ball back. Johnson missed bth free throws, but Okongwu claimed a clutch offensive rebound. He then proceeded to sink both of his free throws.
The Hawks got a stop on defense, and snuck away with a win in TD Garden.