Start fast. End fast.
Just like that, the Hawks have a 2-0 series lead against the Celtics.
The Hawks held the Celtics to seven first-quarter points en route to an 89-72 victory in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series Tuesday night at Philips Arena. The Hawks also used a 15-7 run to start the fourth quarter to take a 23-point lead in the wire-to-wire victory.
Kyle Korver led the Hawks with 17 points, who made four of his five 3-pointers in the first quarter. The shooting guard’s effort came after a 1-of-10 (1-of-7 from 3-point range) effort in Game 1.
“We all have pride, right?” Korver said. “I wanted to come out and play better the second game. I think I was pretty focused. I knocked down a couple shots early, which was great.”
Celtics coach Brad Stevens lamented the fact that his team lost Korver several times in the first quarter when he is such a priority of their defensive game plan.
“Korver is one of the main things we talk about every time we walk in this building, every time we walk into the hotel, every time we land in Atlanta,” Steven said. “We know we have to be in his airspace or else we are toast.”
The Hawks also got double-digit scoring from Al Horford (17), Jeff Teague (13) and Thabo Sefolosha (12). The win came even as starters Paul Millsap and Kent Bazemore combined to go 3-of-26 from the field for nine points. They did combine for 16 rebounds.
Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 16 points, 13 in the second half.
“We all knew it was a big game,” Sefolosha said. “I think the start of the game definitely gave everybody energy. The second unit, when we came in, I think we did a pretty good job just trying to maintain the lead, and that’s important.”
The series switches to Boston for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday.
Just as they did in Game 1, the Hawks started fast. Record-breaking fast. The Hawks led 11-2 in the first minutes — with three of four field goals coming from 3-point range — before the Celtics had to call a timeout 2:07 into the game. The Hawks would lead by as many as 21 points in the first quarter, at 24-3 when Korver made his fourth 3-pointer of the period with 5:28 left. They would not score again before the end of the period and still took a 24-7 after the opening 12 minutes.
The seven points allowed were the lowest in a first quarter in NBA playoff history in the shot-clock era. They also tied the lowest opponent total for any quarter in Hawks playoff history, matching the seven points scored for the Heat in April 19, 2009.
The Celtics shot 13 percent (3-of-23), including 0-of-6 from 3-point range, in the first quarter.
The Celtics rallied in the second quarter and got as close as 10 points, 36-26. The Hawks took a 43-28 lead into intermission. The Celtics’ 28 points were the fewest allowed in any playoff half by the Hawks and the second fewest scored in a playoff half by the Celtics.
The Hawks jumped to a 19-point lead in Game 1 and had to hold off the Celtics. That was not the case in Game 2.
“We’ve been talking a lot about a 48-minute game,” Korver said. “The beginning is part of that 48 minutes. We’ve gotten off to some pretty great leads in this series in the first quarter. We’d like to keep that going.”
