Eastern Conference Recaps, April 15: Boston Celtics Blowout Atlanta Hawks Behind Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown
The Boston Celtics blew out the Atlanta Hawks behind a 29-point performance from Jaylen Brown. He and Jayson Tatum combined for 54 points and 23 rebounds. Derrick White added 24 on 4 of 7 shooting from 3-point range. Marcus Smart’s defense down the stretch helped the Celtics hold off a late Hawks comeback.
“You can’t be down that much and expect to come back and win,” Hawks guard Trae Young said. “But we still fought. We were being aggressive in that second half."
OTHER NOTES:
-The Cleveland Cavaliers looked like they were gonna take Game 1 over the New York Knicks after orchestrating a rally late in the fourth quarter.
Instead, Jalen Brunson countered with a clutch performance.
He had four points to extend New York’s lead in the final stretch, totaling nine in the quarter. Brunson’s 27-point performance offset Donovan Mitchell, who had 38 points with 14 in the final period.
“First off, this isn’t the end of the world. We got to go get one right back,” Mitchell said. “There’s no room to sit here and feel sorry or feel upset and get down. It’s one game. We will respond.”
- The Philadelphia 76ers took a comfortable victory against the Brooklyn Nets. MVP frontrunner Joel Embiid led the way with 26 points but the player of the game was James Harden. Harden went 7 of 13 from the arc to add to the team’s 21 shots from that distance. The Sixers set the franchise record for most 3-pointers in a playoff game. Harden also dished out 13 assists, picking up where he left off with his league-lead in that category during the regular season.
“I couldn't make a layup,” Harden said. “But that's the least of my worries. My legs, my body feels just powerful, feels strong.”
Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.
