Hawks avenge previous loss to Celtics, as Okongwu exits game

BOSTON - The Hawks looked to avenge their last outing against the Celtics. On Wednesday, the Hawks came out of the gate with gusto to build up enough of a lead to hold off the Celtics and come away with a 117-106 victory.

The Hawks shot close to 70% from 3 through the first 11 minutes of the game. It allowed the Hawks to go up 20 by the end of the first quarter and gave them enough of a cushion to weather several runs from the Celtics.

Quick stats: The Hawks had six players finish the night with 13 or more points. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 21 points. Jalen Johnson had 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Dyson Daniels had 15 points, six rebounds, nine assists and five steals.

Key moment

The Hawks were putting the pressure on the Celtics after a shaky third. But the Celtics were still trying to muscle out a win as Jaylen Brown drove to the basket the Hawks stepped up to cut him off.

Brown spun to avoid the initial Hawks stop as Onyeka Okongwu stepped up to help defend. But Brown’s elbows went a little too hard and hit Okongwu square in the mouth.

Okongwu went to the ground holding his mouth before realizing that his teeth had dislodged. He immediately signaled to the bench and ran to the locker room.

Due to the severity of the play, officials upgraded the initial offensive foul they called on Brown to a Flagrant Penalty one. Okongwu returned from the Hawks locker room to shoot two free throws before exiting the game.

Highlight play

The Hawks had plenty of hustle on Wednesday night. With 5:39 to play in the first quarter, Daniels poked the ball away from Celtics wing Jaylen Brown.

Hawks guard CJ McCollum collected the ball and let off an outlet pass to Luke Kennard, who gathered and went up for a layup. Unfortunately for Kennard, the shot got blocked.

But McCollum chased down the loose ball and it found its way back into Kennard’s hands for a 3 from the corner.

Earlier this season, Alexander-Walker banked in a buzzer-beater, left-handed, half-court heave. On Wednesday, he banked in a left-handed 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left on the shot clock that essentially iced the game for the Hawks.

What they said

“I think Dyson did a hell of a job on Brown. And, you know, last game he wasn’t playing. Dyson is a difference-maker for us (and) tonight showed a huge reason why. Yeah, I think that it just allowed, cutting his water off tonight, I think, kind of just mess up the rhythm tonight. And we were just disruptive all night.” -- Johnson on the Hawks’ defense Wednesday.

“I think it’s also something I just have done my whole life as well, and a lot of people, didn’t believe I did. So it’s kind of now, I hope that they have enough proof. But honestly, I think it just kind of goes into what you’re saying, where, when you do the small things, you do the little things over time and you do what it requires to win, and you treat the game with the respect it deserves, then I believe, like you kind of get rewarded with things like that.” -- Alexander-Walker on his left-handed banked in 3.