By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Jaylen Brown had 29 points and 12 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics capitalized on a woeful shooting performance by the Atlanta Hawks to hold on for an 112-99 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first-round matchup.
Jayson Tatum scored 25 points, 21 in the first half. Derrick White added 25 points and 11 rebounds as the Celtics led by as many as 32 points, pouncing on an Atlanta team that missed its first 10 3-point attempts and shot 5 of 29 from beyond the arc for the game.
Atlanta used a 32-12 run to cut the deficit to 96-84 on a three-point play by Bogdan Bogdanovic early in the fourth, but couldn’t get any closer. The Serb guard finished the game with nine points.
Dejounte Murray led the Hawks with 24 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Trae Young added 16 points. Swiss big man Clint Capela finished the game with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Young, who was 10th in the NBA in scoring, missed his first six shots beyond the arc and was 5 of 18 from the field. Murray was 10 of 25 from the floor.