The Hawks dynamic duo of Joe Johnson (27 points) and Jamal Crawford (28 points) manhandled the Celtics, yet again.
Except for the opening 5 minutes (the Celtics jumped out to a 10-2 lead) and the final 5 minutes of the 3rd quarter (the Celtics outscored Atlanta 13-5)), the Hawks controlled this game.
Paul Pierce was brilliant: 35 points on 11-15 FG. He scored 14 in the 3rd quarter and was the reason the Celtics cut Atlanta's 14-point lead to 1 (74-73) heading into the final quarter.
But was there any doubt the Celtics second unit would falter? Especially once we saw Mike Woodson had his starters on the floor to open the 4th?
Joe Johnson took over the game by scoring 9 points in the first 4 minutes. The Hawks lead ballooned to 8 and while Doc started to filter his starters back in the game, it was too late.
Rasheed Wallace is/was awful: 6 points, 2-8 FG. Can someone please explain to me why Doc left Perk on the bench for the entire 4th quarter? Perk had 8 points and 12 boards in just 23 minutes. With the way Sheed is shooting the ball (40%), Perk is a better offensive option.
Atlanta had 29 fast break points to Boston's 8. Much of those came in the first half, as the Celtics were successful in slowing the game down in the 3rd quarter. The tempo didn't matter in the 4th, because Joe Johnson was red hot.
Atlanta's bench produced 44 points (Crawford - 28, Pachulia - 9, Evans - 7), while Boston's bench generated 18 points (Sheed - 6, Tony Allen - 8, Glen Davis - 4). The Celtics second unit was a collective -74 in plus/minus.