On February 14, Beijing time, the NBA regular season, the Celtics played at home against the Hawks. Both teams were eastern powerhouses last year, but this season has been in a situation, but the recent Celtics have rebounded, winning seven consecutive games and have come to the sixth place in the East, and the Hawks are in tenth place. The game was played by both teams in a good half, with the Hawks having the upper hand in the first half but being reversed by the Celtics in the second half. In the end, the Celtics beat the Hawks 105-95 to win eight straight.
In this game, the Eagles Collins was absent due to injury, but the team quickly gained the upper hand after the start, the Celtics had no feel, only scored 17 points in a single quarter, and fell behind by 11 points after the first quarter; in the second quarter, the Celtics found their touch, but the Eagles were also in good shape, and did not narrow the point difference, and they were still 10 points behind after the half. But in the second half, the situation on the field suddenly changed, the Celtics exploded madly, a single quarter of the bomb down 42 points, of which Tatum alone bombed 16 points, led the team to a strong reversal of the score, the third quarter after the lead of 9 points; the last quarter of the Eagles are also unable to catch up, the two teams are not very good, and finally the Celtics won the game.
Without Collins, Trae Young also felt a little sluggish this time, shooting 9 of 26, including 4 of 12 three-pointers, 30 points and 10 assists, and can have a plus-minus of -5 on the field. It was his 114th career assist double-double, surpassing Magic Johnson to become the third-most assisted double-double in NBA history since the age of 23, behind Isaiah Thomas's 169 and Paul's 161.
In addition, he did not get enough support this time, only Bogdanovic on the bench played well, scoring 26 points; Hunter scored 10 points, and the other players did not score in double figures.
The Celtics rebounded completely, trailing by 15 points in this game, but finally completed the reversal, winning 8 consecutive wins (the longest streak since October 2019), ranking sixth in the East, and the gap with the front is also narrowing. In the past 13 games, the Celtics have won 12 wins and 1 loss, of which since entering 2022, the Celtics have ranked first in the league in defensive efficiency and the net efficiency is also the first in the league, which is the key to their ability to rebound.
In this campaign, the core of the team, Tatum, once again ushered in the outbreak, playing 40 minutes, shooting 13 of 27, including 4 of 10 three-pointers, 8 of 9 free throws, a game-high 38 points, plus 10 rebounds and 3 assists. In the crucial third quarter, he scored 16 points in a single quarter to lead the team to a comeback. In addition, Brown had 17 points and 9 rebounds, Smart had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists, Williams had 10 points and 14 rebounds, and new signing White had 14 points and 5 assists.