C’s thrive in crunch time to eliminate Atlanta in Game 6

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Celtics Game 6 takeaways: C’s thrive in crunch time to finish off Hawks originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics have won a Game 6 on the road for the second consecutive year. This time, it punched their ticket to the second round.

The Celtics stepped up in the clutch Thursday night at State Farm Arena, withstanding an Atlanta Hawks offensive barrage to surge to a 128-120 victory in Game 6. The win secures a 4-2 first-round series victory for Boston and sets up a Round 2 showdown with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Full schedule for Celtics’ second-round playoff clash with Sixers

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown carried the load for Boston with 30 and 32 points, respectively, while Marcus Smart delivered 22 points and made several key plays as part of a late C’s run. (More on that shortly.)

Trae Young led the Hawks with 30 points but went ice-cold in the second half, as Boston outscored Atlanta by 10 in the fourth quarter to surge to victory.

Celtics Talk POSTGAME POD: Celtics step up when it matters and close out Hawks in Game 6 | Listen & Subscribe

Here are our takeaways from a Game 6 win that gives the Celtics three days off before Game 1 against Philly on Monday:

The Jays deliver the knockout punch

The Hawks played another excellent offensive game, and Young came out firing with 25 first-half points. But Boston’s All-Star duo answered Atlanta at every turn.

Brown was his team’s best source of offense for the third consecutive game and was particularly hot from long range, making 6 of 8 3-pointers. Several of those threes came after Atlanta took the lead and helped Boston stay within striking distance.

That set the stage for Tatum, who snuffed out the Hawks with a monster putback slam off a missed Al Horford deep ball with 2:10 remaining.

Tatum recorded team highs in rebounds (14) and assists (seven) in addition to his 30 points, while he and Brown recorded their 23rd career game scoring at least 30 points each.

Story continues

Boston’s record in those 23 games? 22-1.

Marcus Smart rewards Celtics’ faith

After Smart made several critical mistakes down the stretch in Game 5, it was worth wondering whether he…

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Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2023-04-28 03:25:00

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