Atlanta Hawks Take Advantage of Celtics Late-Game Mistakes and Upset Boston 119-115

The Atlanta Hawks have did something tonight that they have not done since the 2009-2010 season.

That would be beating the Boston Celtics twice in Boston.

Despite the fact that Boston was on the second night of a back-to-back and Atlanta was getting healthy for the first time in a couple of weeks, they were huge underdogs in Boston. There were plenty of times tonight in the fourth quarter that it looked like the Celtics had the game locked up, but they made tons of mistakes down the stretch and Atlanta took full advantage. Huge performances from Trae Young and Onyeka Okongwu lifted the Hawks to their third straight win and their second win of the year in Boston.

During this three-game winning streak, there has not been a better player on the Hawks than Onyeka Okongwu. He is playing arguably the best basketball of his career and had 19 points and 13 rebounds tonight vs the Celtics. Trae Young was brilliant as well, scoring 28 points and chipping in 12 assists. The big news heading into the game was that Jalen Johnson was back, but Young and Okongwu stole the show. The game that Dyson Daniels had should not be overlooked either. Daniels played great defense on Jayson Tatum and scored 23 points. The Hawks shot 47% from the field and 24% from three. Winning a game vs the Celtics when you shoot 24% from three is an astounding feat in itself. Atlanta's bench outscored Boston's 44-22.

It was an off night for the juggernaut that is the Celtics offense. They shot just 39% from the field and 29% from three. Tatum finished with 23 points but was 7-21 from the field. Brown similarly had 24 points, but was a horrific 9-27 from the field. In terms of efficiency, Payton Pritchard being 7-12 off the bench was the best mark for the Celtics.

Not only was it an off night for the Celtics offense, but they committed tons of mistakes as well. Boston was uncharacteristically sloppy down the stretch and made tons of mistakes to keep the Hawks in it. Atlanta took full advantage and now has won three games in a row.

The Hawks are now 22-19 and in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. They have another road game coming up on Monday afternoon against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, a place that Young and the Hawks don't fear in the slightest.

Jan 18, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) reacts during the fourth quarter of a game against the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

The Hawks starters tonight were Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Vit Krejci, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela. Boston was without Porzingis and Horford and started Luke Kornet in the center spot to start beside Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum.

The first quarter was sloppy for the Hawks. Turnovers and a poor shooting performance gave the Celtics the advantage in the early going. Boston jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the first four minutes of the game thanks to four Hawks turnovers and they increased that lead to 28-16 with under three minutes to go in the quarter. Atlanta shot 0-5 from three, which is a death sentence when you play the Celtics. Boston hit five threes in the opening quarter and led the Hawks 33-21 at the end of it. Atlanta shot 40% from the field in the opening quarter, while Boston shot 43% from the field and 33% from three. Brown had nine points for the Celtics and Holiday had nine.

The second quarter however was a different story. The Hawks played better defensive and saw their three point shot start falling. They started the quarter on a 13-6 run to cut the Celtics lead to five and it was not long before the had the lead.

While the Hawks defense deserves a lot of credit for how they were playing, Boston was also missing a lot of open shots. The Celtics hit only one of their first 11 field goal attempts and that allowed the Hawks to get right back in the game. The Celtics were 0-8 in the quarter from three, just one quarter after Atlanta went an entire quarter without hitting a three. Luke Kornet and Jaylen Brown combined for 11 of the Celtics 15 points in the second.

Welcome back 1 pic.twitter.com/G9z1Q4WL3v
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 19, 2025

It has been quite the week for Onyeka Okongwu. He posted the first ever 20 point, 20 rebound game for a Hawks player off the bench ever in Tuesday's win over Phoenix and the followed it up with a 14 points, 13 rebound performance vs the Bulls on Wednesday. He scored 11 points in the second quarter against the Celtics and with De'Andre Hunter scoring 10 points in the first half, the Hawks bench was outperforming Boston's. Those two players got the Hawks a 52-48 halftime lead.

At the half the Hawks were shooting 48% from the field and 33% from three. Johnson had five points and seven rebounds in his first half back, Young had seven points and six assists, and Dyson Daniels had 11 points.

Boston was 35% from the field and 22% from the three in the first half. Brown led the way with 14 points and Kornet had 12, the only Celtics in double digits. Tatum was 2-9 from the field in the first half and only scored five points. Derrick White and Payton Pritchard were a combined 3-12 from the field.

"Any time O hits a 3 it's a great time." - @Larrydn22 pic.twitter.com/aryDRfwMvg
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 19, 2025

Atlanta got off to a good start in the third quarter and it was the connection between Johnson and Young that was the factor. Atlanta stretched their lead to 62-55 and on the two possessions before the timeout, the duo known as "PB&J" connected on a pair of big buckets.

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— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 19, 2025

Boston was not going to go away though. After the Hawks stretched the lead to 62-55 though, Boston had perhaps their best stretch in the game up to that point. The Celtics closed the quarter on a 23-11 run, but Atlanta did get a big three pointer from Young to end the quarter. Boston re-took the lead 78-73 going into the fourth. Young and Johnson combined for 13 of the Hawks's 21 points in the third. After a rough first half, Tatum became more aggressive for the Celtics and had 14 points in the quarter.

The 4th quarter was one of the wildest in the NBA this season. Payton Pritchard got the Celtics lead to 10 points and Atlanta trailed with 10 minutes remaining. It looked like Boston had control of the game, but Atlanta refused to go away. Some big shots from Vit Krejci got Atlanta on a 9-2 run and cut the lead to 87-84 with 7:38 left. It was going to be a close finish and Boston led 98-97 with 1:37 to go after both teams went back and forth. The Hawks defense was locked in after that and after four consecutive defensive stops, Young hit a three for the Hawks to take a 100-98 lead.

After a questionable foul call on Hunter, White hit two free throw's to tie the game and Atlnata got the ball back. Hunter missed an open shot and then Brown nailed a jumpshot with 28.7 left to give Boston a 102-100 lead.

Then things got crazy.

Down by two, Atlanta had a horrible possession that resulted in a turnover and then Young was called for a technical foul. In that situation, that could have proven to be a horrible mistake for Atlanta, but Boston refused to take what Atlanta was giving them. After Tatum knocked in the technical free throw, Boston had possession and a chance to put a stranglehold on the game. Instead, Boston turned it over and the Hawks took over. The Celtics opted to foul Atlanta and Young hit both free throws to cut the lead to 103-102. Atlanta had to foul on the next possession and fouled Tatum. Intead of making it a three point game, Tatum split the pair and it was 104-102 with under 30 seconds left.

On the other end of the floor, Young drew the foul and was awarded two free throws. He tied the game and then Tatum missed a potential game winning shot. Somehow, some way, the Atlanta Hawks had forced overtime in Boston.

It was quite the overtime period.

The two teams opened the period exchanging buckets. White hit a three pointer to give the Celtics the lead 110-108, then Young responded with one of his own to take the lead back 111-110. Brown responded with a three to give Boston a 113-111 lead, but Okongwu got a bucket and was fouled for a potential three-point play. Neither team could get a stop, but the Hawks defense was about to lock in.

After a Tatum miss, Daniels hit a shot to stretch the lead to 116-113, but Tatum responded with a bucket to cut the lead back to one. After Young missed a shot with 31 seconds remaining, Boston had yet another chance to win the game.

But they squandered it.

YEAH O pic.twitter.com/v33IVMzrLx
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 19, 2025

The Celtics turned it over with 19.2 seconds left and the Hawks quickly got a timeout in. They got the ball into Johnson, but he missed both free throws. Lucky for him, Okongwu got the rebound and then made both of his free throws to make it 118-115. After Tatum missed another shot, Johnson got the rebound, split the pair of free throws, and that was the game. Atlanta won their third straight game and moved to 2-0 in Boston. The Hawks are 6-1 against the top three teams in the Eastern Conference (Cavs, Celtics, and Knicks) and will have a chance to improve that record further on Monday in Madison Square Garden vs the Knicks.