The boston celtics began their search for the ring this Saturday with a beating, 112-99, to the atlanta hawks in a match of the first round of the Eastern Conference they went on to win by 32 points shortly after the break.
After falling in the 2022 Finals against Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors, the Celtics (second in the East) began these playoffs with a solid performance against some Hawks who came from the ‘play-in’ and who are going to have to improve a lot to be able to stand up to the Boston team.
The only negative aspect of the locals was that in the second half they relaxed so much that Atlanta fell only 12 points down in the last quarter, forcing those led by Joe Mazzulla to make an extra effort to avoid a scare.
Jaylen Brown added 29 points and 12 rebounds, Jason Tatum 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Derrick White he recorded 24 points and 7 assists. They were the best of some Celtics in which the Dominican Al Horford contributed 6 points and 9 rebounds.
Big performances from Jaylen Brown (29 PTS, 12 REB), Jayson Tatum (25 PTS, 11 REB), and Derrick White (24 PTS, 7 AST, 4/7 3PM) propelled the @celtics to a Game 1 victory!
📺Game 2 of BOS/ATL, Tuesday, 7pm/et, NBA TV pic.twitter.com/qOp6DHZPHK
—NBA (@NBA) April 15, 2023
The Hawks had to Dejounte Murray as top scorer, 24 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, while bring young he completed a gray game with only 16 points and 8 assists with a sad 5 of 18 shooting.
Atlanta signed a bad afternoon from the perimeter with a dismal 5 of 29 on triples.
The game was very uphill for Quin Snyder’s team from the beginning, since in the first quarter they crashed with a 0 of 9 three-pointer and five lost balls.
Boston, on the other hand, relied on 13 points from Tatum in the initial period to leave on the scoreboard (29-19).
Without a hint of reaction from the visitor, the Celtics struck again in the second quarter with a resounding 20-3 run, soon surpassed the +20 difference and did not lift their foot off the accelerator to reach the break with an eloquent and uncontestable 74-44 .
The Hawks, who lost all three of their regular-season meetings with the Celtics, improved in the third quarter and came within 12 points in the fourth with Bogdan Bogdanovic stepping up. but Boston’s victory was not really in jeopardy.
The second match of this series will be played this Tuesday also in Boston.
Other results of the first day of the Playoffs
In the first game of the day the Philadelphia 76ers prevailed, 121-101, before the Brooklyn Nets.
The New York Knicks posted their first postseason road win over the cleveland cavaliers by 97-101.
Jalen Brunson (27 PTS, 2 STL) was CLUTCH in his first playoff appearance as a Knick!
He had 21 points in the 2nd half to help lead the Knicks to a Game 1 win in Cleveland.#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/iuDjLo7C60
—NBA (@NBA) April 16, 2023
For their part, the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings They are disputing their first duel of the Western series.
(With information from EFE)
Reference-aristeguinoticias.com
