Hawks can’t climb out of huge deficit in loss to Celtics

The Hawks dug themselves into a 27-point hole and couldn’t climb all the way out in their 121-109 loss to the Celtics Friday in Boston.

Next up, the Hawks (12-17) will return home and host the Nuggets Sunday.

Below are some takeaways from the loss:

1. For the second straight game, assistant coach Nate McMillan acted as Hawks head coach, with Lloyd Pierce back in Atlanta after the birth of his second child Wednesday. Pierce is expected back for the home game vs. Denver Sunday. In McMillan’s first game, the Hawks beat the shorthanded Celtics, 122-114, Wednesday in Boston.

2. Getting off to a slow start, the Hawks trailed by as much as 15 points in the first quarter. They were down 66-41 at halftime and just couldn’t get shots to fall, opening up shooting 31.8% from the floor (14-for-44) and 3-for-15 from 3-point range (20%), going scoreless from the 6:07 mark to the 2:39 mark in the second quarter.

Cam Reddish, John Collins, Kevin Huerter and Danilo Gallinari combined to go 1-for-26 from the floor in the first half (10-for-47 overall). Having just beaten the Celtics Wednesday, the Hawks didn’t match the Celtics’ level of aggression, in McMillan’s eyes: “We just beat this team so we knew they were going to come out aggressive. I didn’t think we responded to that physical defense that they put on us the first quarter, we didn’t execute and then defensively we were not stopping them.”

3. With help from the second unit, the Hawks made it a game late, but ultimately their 27-point deficit proved too big to overcome. They opened fourth quarter on a 17-5 run, to make it a 13-point game, 103-90, at the 7:44 mark, and a 3-pointer by Trae Young narrowed it to nine, 108-99, with less than five minutes to play. That was the closest they came to a comeback, though, despite a 36-point fourth quarter. “We were just down too much to a really good team, a team that was really motivated to come out and beat us after we had beat them the last game,” Young said. “When you get down that big to a good team like that, it’s tough to come back.”

4. With a double-double of 24 points and 15 rebounds, Clint Capela had a strong performance for the Hawks. He added four blocks and two steals. Young and Clint Capela worked well together in pick-and-roll, with Young adding a double-double of 31 points and 11 assists.

5. For this game, the Celtics (15-14) got center Daniel Theis and point guard Kemba Walker back, both of whom had missed the Hawks’ win on Wednesday with injuries. Walker led the Celtics in scoring with 28 points, adding six assists, five rebounds and three steals, and Theis helped anchor them defensively, adding 14 points (10 in the fourth quarter), eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

Stat of the game

66-52 (one game after the Hawks put up 60 points in the paint to the Celtics’ 46, the Celtics got revenge with 66 paint points to the Hawks’ 52)

Star of the game

Kemba Walker (led Boston in scoring with 28 points)

Quotable

“We found some energy too late in the game – we made a run, but by that time, it was too late.” (Solomon Hill, who had 12 points off the bench, on the fourth quarter)