PHOTO CREDIT TO PEACHTREEHOOPS TWITTER

By: Bryce Sparling (@1788sports, @BryceS89)

After a win against the reigning Eastern Conference champions, beating the runners up at home would be a pipedream right? Or would it? On a back to back, there’s no way you beat both the Cavs and Celtics….right? It wasn’t meant to be, but it wasn’t far off.

Atlanta went into the 1st qrt with a lot of energy following the win up in Cleveland. Babbitt and Dedmon anchored the Hawks in the 1st qtr, both scoring 5 points a piece. Dennis was also adding to the offensive fire power with some very quality dribble drives & dishes. Kyrie and Al did most of the scoring for the Celtics in the 1st, which saw the Boston team command a one point lead after 12 minutes played in Atlanta.

Quarter 2 produced one of the best quarters I’ve seen Dedmon have so far this season. Dedmon added 8 points, including 2 nice jumpers and 1 semi-tear drop finesse shot. Dennis added 11 himself to the 2nd qrt and all of the sudden the Hawks looked like the team that left Cleveland with a win. Atlanta closed the half out with a pair of free throws from Schroder to tie the game at 54-54.

The 3rd quarter is where it started to unravel. Boston went on a 10-0 run, thanks in large part to Kyrie being the most unguardable player in the NBA. Tatum, Al & Kyrie all combined to have a very good 3rd that made Boston fans forget about the 1st half. Schroder did what he could, in adding 8 points to his scoring total, unfortunately it wasn’t enough. Bazemore had a couple of questionable shots and Collins getting into foul trouble didn’t help the effort. Atlanta went down by 7 entering into the 4th qrt.

The Hawks, as per usual, decided they wanted to pull on our emotions and make it a close game in the 4th instead of just laying down and letting us fans revel in the tank that we all know is 100% not happening. Kyrie went 5/7 from the field in the 4th, including a 3, and was his unstoppable, annoying self. Dedmon added a couple of more FG’s and did a lot of unsung work in the paint that really kept this team in the game. Bazemore came back and hit a huge 3 near the end. Belinelli also added a pair of FG’s that saw the Hawks fight and claw right back into it. Unfortunately, the Hawks ended up on the raw end of this deal and fell 110-107 to the Boston Celtics. There are a ton of positives to be taken away from this game though, so there’s always a silver lining. Atlanta’s next game is Friday at 7pm against the Detroit Pistons.