Chicago (USA), Apr 18 (EFE).- The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks 119-106 on Tuesday and used the TD Garden factor to take a 2-0 lead in the first round series of the ‘playoffs’ of the Eastern Conference of the NBA, which leaves his round pass on track with the next two games to play in Atlanta.
Jayson Tatum was the absolute protagonist of the victory with a double double of 29 points and ten rebounds, with six assists and five triples, supported by Derrick White’s 26 points, with a brilliant eleven of 16 shooting.
The Celtics had excellent offensive percentages, with 55.8% accuracy on shots (48 of 86) and 45.5% accuracy on triples (15 of 33), on a night in which Jaylen Brown contributed 18 points, Marcus Smart fourteen and Dominican Al Horford, eight.
Joe Mazzulla’s team, second seeded in the East playoffs, had a slow start and was down eleven points in the first period (11-22) before sealing a resounding 14-0 that opened the way to a new comfortable victory.
The Celtics’ advantage reached twenty points at 82-62 in the third period, although a drop in concentration, also seen in the first game, was taken advantage of by the Hawks to attempt an epic comeback.
Based on triples by Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Hawks got within eight points at 99-91, before the Celtics stepped on the accelerator again and signed a 15-2 culminating with a triple by Smart and a powerful dunk by Tatum to the 119-97.
It was the final blow for the Hawks, who gave up despite Dejounte Murray’s 29 points, with seven triples, and Trae Young’s 24 points.
The series will now shift to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4, with the Celtics in control of operations.
The winner of this series will face one between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets, with the former leading 2-0 after the two victories of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia
