Luka Garza and the Celtics came up short of stopping Jalen Johnson's Hawks.
Luka Garza and the Celtics came up short of stopping Jalen Johnson's Hawks.Erin Clark/Globe Staff
The Celtics lost for the second time in three games on Tuesday night, the latest setback by a 117-106 final as the Hawks prevailed at TD Garden.
Boston was led in scoring by Jaylen Brown’s 21 points.
With the Hawks punching back again and increasing their lead to 73-50, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla decided to pull Brown and Payton Pritchard in favor of Jordan Walsh and Baylor Scheierman — and the ploy worked. The Celtics cut the deficit to 11 as Walsh and Scheierman each made defensive plays.
Scheierman even sparked the crowd with a steal and then soared for the basket before being fouled hard by Atlanta’s Onyeka Okongwu. Anfernee Simons’ bank shot with 0.9 left sliced the deficit to 87-76, with Brown sitting the final eight-plus minutes of the period.
Mazzulla dug deep into his bench looking for a spark and the Celtics began the period on a 10-2 run. But the Hawks continued to counter with 3-pointers and made 11 of 23 in the first half. A triple from Corey Kispert extended the lead to 22 (60-38) but the Celtics countered with an 8-0 run to end the half.
Luka Garza led the Celtics with 11 points and five offensive rebounds while Brown added 10, but his output required 13 shot attempts. The Hawks overwhelmed the Celtics defense with ball movement, collecting 15 assists on their 22 baskets.
Boston has struggled defensively of late, especially on the 3-pointer. It has dropped to 26th in the league in 3-pointers allowed.
During his pregame media session, Atlanta coach Quin Snyder made reference to the Celtics’ 132-106 shellacking of the Hawks at State Farm Arena on Jan. 17 and how Sam Hauser openly chased the team’s 3-point record with the game already decided.
The Hawks played as if they had revenge on their minds. They opened the game on an 14-5 run and capitalized on the subpar 3-point defense of the Celtics. Atlanta nailed seven 3-pointers in the opening period by six players, racing to a 38-20 lead.
The Celtics looked flat and lethargic, and Mazzulla called two timeouts during the period to stave off Atlanta runs. Boston missed 14 of 20 shots in the opening period and committed five turnovers. Rookie center Amari Williams, starting for Neemias Queta (illness), committed two illegal screens as the Celtics looked out of sorts.
Brown missed five of his six field goal attempts and was minus-19 in his eight-plus minutes. Atlanta was healthier than in the previous meeting with defensive ace Dyson Daniels back in the lineup.