By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After letting the series go longer than it should have, Al Horford and the Boston Celtics were eager to finish off the Atlanta Hawks. Horford made sure his former team didn’t force a Game 7.
The 36-year-old Horford hit a huge 3-pointer in a late run that carried the Celtics past the Hawks 128-120 Thursday night for a 4-2 triumph in the opening-round playoff series.
After squandering a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 5, which cost them a chance to end the series in Boston, the Celtics were determined not to wilt again.
“We talked about finishing the game,” Horford said. “I felt the last game, for the most part, we were fine. But tonight there was that sense of urgency. We understood how important it was to not extend the series.”
Down by three, Boston ripped off an 11-0 run that included three straight 3-pointers, with Horford’s big shot sandwiched around 3s from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Tatum capped the spurt with a dunk off a Horford miss, giving the Celtics a 121-113 lead with 2:07 remaining.
Given how close it had been all night, an eight-point lead seemed like 80 in a game that featured 22 lead changes and 15 ties.
The second-seeded Celtics advanced to face the third-seeded Philadelphia 76ers, who’ve been resting since completing their four-game sweep of Brooklyn last Saturday.
Game 1 is Monday night in Boston.
Brown led the Celtics with 32 points, while Tatum had 30. Horford, who played in Atlanta from 2007-16, chipped in with 10 points, 12 rebounds two steals, and three blocks.
After carrying the Hawks to that improbable victory at TD Garden, Trae Young ran out of steam in the second half. He missed 12 of 13 shots over the final two quarters. Young had 30 points and 10 assists, but he finished just 9 of 28 from the field.
The Serbian sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic finished the game with 12 points in just under 20 minutes of game time.