Cold Young Heats Up as Hawks Defeat Celtics, 130-122
Ever since the Atlanta Hawks reached the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, Trae Young has lived up to his "Ice Trae" nickname in a most unfortunate way in the playoffs: he has been ice cold, and that continued in the first two games of Atlanta's first round series versus the Boston Celtics, as Young shot just .350 from the field while the Celtics took a 2-0 lead--but on Friday night Young scored a game-high 32 points on 12-22 field goal shooting as the Hawks won, 130-122. Young also had a game-high nine assists plus six rebounds. His backcourt mate Dejounte Murray contributed 25 points, six rebounds, and five assists. The Hawks dominated the Celtics in the paint, outscoring them 54-40 and outrebounding them 48-29. Clint Capela scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds as six Hawks had at least five rebounds, compared with just two Celtics tallying at least five rebounds. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics in scoring and rebounding (29 points, 10 rebounds) while dishing for five assists. Marcus Smart had 24 points and a team-high eight assists.
Hubie Brown provided the ESPN color commentary. I believe that this is his first telecast since he did color commentary for game one of the Cleveland-New York series last Saturday. In his pregame comments, Brown singled out Young's inefficiency as both a shooter and a ballhandler in this series. Brown mentioned that the Hawks must do a better job defending the three point shot because the Celtics attempt a lot of three pointers and shoot a good percentage from beyond the arc; this season, the Celtics ranked sixth in the league in three point field goal percentage and second in three point field goal attempts. Brown suggested that the Hawks could score inside if (1) their big men did a better job of establishing position in the paint and (2) if their guards delivered passes on time and on target after the big men established good post position.
As is often the case, the bullet points that Brown mentioned before the game emerged as relevant factors during the game. In the first quarter, Young started slowly with four points on 1-3 field goal shooting while the Celtics made nine three pointers, tying the franchise playoff record for most three pointers in one quarter; not surprisingly, the Celtics led 37-33 after the first 12 minutes.
The Celtics shot 15-25 (.600) from three point range in the first half--but they trailed by seven points at halftime because the Hawks scored 74 points in the first half, setting a franchise playoff record for points in a half. The Hawks outscored the Celtics in the paint 34-10 in the first half. Bogdan Bogdanovic led Atlanta with 15 first half points while shooting 6-6 from the field, including 3-3 from beyond the arc; he did not score in the second half, but he helped the Hawks to build a lead that they never relinquished. Saddiq Bey added 12 first half points on 4-4 field goal shooting, and Young bounced back from his slow start to produce 10 points and seven assists in the first half.
The Celtics briefly tied the game at 79 early in the third quarter on Jaylen Brown's dunk, but after John Collins hit a three pointer to put the Hawks up 82-79 the Hawks led the rest of the way.
This game's high volume three point shooting (21-48 for the Celtics, 15-34 for the Hawks) should not distract one's attention from how the Hawks won the game: they controlled the paint with inside scoring and dominant rebounding, and they limited the Celtics' three point shooting in the second half (6-23). Hubie Brown was correct that the Hawks could create inside scoring opportunities if they were patient and precise. Based on the past performances of both teams, it seems unlikely that the Hawks can follow that formula three more times in this series--nor is it likely that Young will continue to play this efficiently--but the Hawks avoided being swept and, at the very least, they will have the Celtics' full attention next game.
Labels: Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Hubie Brown, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young
posted by David Friedman @ 10:55 PM
2 Comments:
David,
Solid analysis as always. You've nailed it for a while regarding Trae Young and the Hawks' "one-hit wonder" ECF run in 2021. I expect the Celtics to regain composure and control the boards and complete the gentlemen's sweep in 5 games.
This was most definitely a surprise W from Atlanta; I also thought Boston would sweep them. Nevertheless, it is always refreshing to see when the outcome of a game can be decided on "old-school" factors regarding advantages in points in the paint and rebounding. Modern NBA + analytics have more than bastardized this great game into nothing more than a shootout with ridiculous variance and blowout scores.
I wasn't planning on tuning into this game, but I'm glad I did late in the fourth quarter. Any time the legendary Hubie Brown is commentating, I am locked in. The man is a walking encyclopedia of basketball knowledge and greatness. We are truly blessed to still be able to listen to his expert analysis while we still can. I was wondering if you had any future articles/posts that would highlight his great career.
Eric:
Thank you!
Yes, it is always fun to hear Hubie Brown on the call.
I don't have any immediate plans to do a full article about Hubie Brown. I interviewed him many years ago, and have written several articles about him. The interview and those articles can be found by searching this site.
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