Paul Millsap wasn’t his dominant self.
Kyle Korver couldn’t make a 3-pointer.
And still, the Hawks defeated the Celtics, 102-101, in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series Saturday at Philips Arena. A victory without two starters playing as expected just may be a reason for encouragement going forward in the series.
“I think it’s probably a mix of the defense for Boston, it’s probably important to give them credit when somebody doesn’t play as well as you’d like or expect,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said Sunday in a conference call with reporters as the team had a treatment and recovery day. “The other side of that mixed emotion is you feel like Kyle is going to make shots if he’s getting them, and Paul’s very capable of having a big impact on the game. You have to have a mix of emotion and mixed reaction, and hope you can get all five guys playing well or making shots and having big impacts. Over the course of the game, in the playoffs, that doesn’t happen very often for either team.”
Millsap averaged 22.5 points and 10.3 rebounds in four regular-season games against the Celtics this season. That included a 31-point, 16-rebounds game on April 9th. Millsap was held to 14 points and seven rebounds, but did have three blocked shots, in Game 1.
Korver made 8 of 15 3-pointers against the Celtics in the regular season. He finished with just two points in Game 1 after shooting 1 of 10 from the field, including 0 of 7 from 3-point range.
The Hawks got solid games from their other three starters in the victory. Al Horford finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Jeff Teague had 23 points and 12 assists. Kent Bazemore had 23 points and eight rebounds. The three also scored 16 of the Hawks’ final 18 points after they trailed 86-84 with 5:53 remaining.
The Hawks led by as many as 19 points in the game before the Celtics staged a second-half comeback and took a lead, 83-80, midway through the fourth quarter.
“We did our work early,” Bazemore said. “The work in the first half, getting that lead really gave us some room for error. They’re a hard-playing team. They kept fighting. Paul is going to be Paul. He didn’t have the night he wanted to have, but that’s what teammates are for. We lift each other up. Kyle as well. They’re still going to demand the attention they deserve. It was a great team effort.”
The Celtics trailed by 17 at halftime and made a lineup change to begin the third quarter as they inserted Evan Turner for Amir Johnson. That gave them a three-guard look. They went on a 49-29 run into the fourth quarter to take the three-point advantage. The smaller lineup had the Hawks lamenting their transition defense following the game. Before the game, several players and Budenholzer pointed to transition defense as being the biggest key to success for the Hawks in the series.
Budenholzer said the onus was on his team to be better defensively, despite the Celtics lineup or what they tried schematically against Millsap or Korver.
“I don’t think I would say it was a key,” Budenholzer said of the Celtics’ small lineup. “Going smaller, there’s a little more space, there’s a little more shooting. Their bigs are very athletic. Their bigs are great runners. Some of their smaller guys at times can get out and really go. It’s just a little different dynamic in transition. Credit to them for imposing their will in transition offense.
“We all know we were not as good as we needed to be in transition defense. Whether they’re big or they’re small, it doesn’t really matter. We have to better than we were in the second half.”
About the Author
