On April 26, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued, and the Hawks traveled to Boston to challenge the Celtics. The Hawks won the G3 game at home, but soon lost by 8 points in the G4 game, this time Collins became a drag bottle for the Hawks in 1 of 9, and in the play of the bench, the Hawks were also inferior to the Celtics, the Hawks bench was Sadiq Bay, he only scored 5 points, and the Celtics' backup Lowe cut a double-double of 13+15. After the big score came to 1-3, the Hawks' lives hung in the balance. Although the Celtics lost an away game, they had the game point in hand and the advantage of home court, and Murray, another core of the Hawks, was suspended for bumping the referee, and the Celtics have great hopes of advancing today. It's worth mentioning that the Hawks won in Boston back to 2021, and they have only won one of their last 11 visits to Boston. In this game, the two teams continued their previous starting lineups, with the Hawks sending Trae Young, Collins, Capela, Bogdan and Hunt, and the Celtics' starters being Brown, White, Smart, Horford and Tatum.
At the start of the first quarter, Trae Young used Capela's cover to pull up 3 points at the top of the arc. Tatum swooped down the basket with Hunter on his shoulder and scored 2 points. Trae Young started the game with a good touch, breaking through and scoring two more points from a horseback shot at the free throw line, Jaylen Brown scored a low jumper on the left side, and the next round he broke away from the defense and flew for a layup to score four points in a row. Smart hit a 3-point shot in the bottom corner, Bogdanovic broke through the free throw line to assist Capela to catch the pie, Trae Young turned over at the free throw line and jumped, the two teams fell into a stalemate, the score staggered lead, the Hawks played very steadily in the first quarter, the shooting percentage was also very high, the Celtics' Brown continued the hot hand of the last game, but Tatum was in bad shape. With 4 minutes and 15 seconds left in the first quarter, the Celtics led the Hawks 22-21, Brown picked a basket and went out of the basket, Jaylen Johnson hit a 3-point shot at the top of the right arc, Brogdon stepped back with a jumper to return with 2 points, Hunter missed a jumper, Lowe grabbed a rebound and fouled, Okongwu hit a 3-point shot at the top of the arc, the Celtics missed one after another, Tatum even made a three-point shot, but the Hawks did not seize the opportunity, three consecutive offensive misses, Hauser hit 3 points, Dick Bayma immediately hit 3 points at the top of the arc. In the first quarter, the Hawks led the Celtics 30-27.
At the start of the second quarter, Smart made Johnson a foul on three steps from the free throw line, but missed both free throws. Bogdanovic hit a 3-pointer and Tatum assisted Brown, who took off to blow up the basket. Sadiq Bay dodged Brogdon with a cross step, opened his hand to hit a 3-point shot, Smart can also score a high board in the box, Bogdanovic 3 points to create a smart foul, all three free throws, Brown replaced Brogdon, Tatum assisted Horford hit 3 points, Sadiq Bey made a foul inside and hit both free throws, Tatum missed a layup, grabbed a rebound and was pushed down by Okongu, Jaylen Brown rushed inside to score 4 consecutive points to chase the score. The Hawks immediately timed out, timeout returned Trae Young came on, Trae Young and Horford both missed open 3 points, the two teams fell into a chaotic battle, Brogdon hit 3 points to break the deadlock, Collins and Brown matched 3 points, Collins missed 3 points, Sadiq Bay picked up a rebound and hit a layup, Collins lost another 3 points, Brown pushed back, assisted White hit 3 points in the bottom corner, and the Celtics used the conversion moment to build an 8-point lead and beat the Hawks. Trae Young scored, Brogdon immediately responded with a 2+1, Brown successfully raided the Hawks inside on the counterattack, the Hawks' offensive efficiency in the second quarter was too poor, the players represented by Collins blindly shot 3 points from the outside, once missed, they were successfully converted by the Celtics, and Brown's breakthrough was like a sharp knife, piercing into the heart of the Hawks. In a single quarter, the Hawks lost by 11 points, and the Celtics led the Hawks by eight points 66-58 after two quarters.
Easy side to fight again, Tatum found the touch, left arc top directly dry 3 points, Trae Young withdrew 3 points to deflect, Tatum bypassed, faced Capela, a turn, burst into a layup. Bogdanovic broke the scoring drought with a free throw, Trae Young hit a 3-point shot this time, but White immediately returned a 3-pointer in the bottom left corner, the Hawks offense was unsuccessful, Brown broke through for a layup, and both teams were selected into the chaos, both fell into a scoring drought, and the Celtics timed out. Back from the game, Collins broke the deadlock with an inside dunk, Smart also scored a free throw, Jaylen Brown singled Hunter, gave a turn back jumper after the confrontation and scored, Bogdanovic scored 3 points for the Hawks to stop the bleeding, White hit a 2-point shot, Hunter hit a 3-point rebound, Trae Young singled out Hauser, and the outside suddenly fired a cold arrow, and the Hawks narrowed the gap to 6 points. The two teams then locked in a tie-up battle, with the Celtics firmly holding the lead within eight points, and at the end of the third quarter, the Celtics led the Hawks 92-82 by 10 points.
In the final quarter, Bogdanovic scored 2 points first, Okongwu took the pie and scored 2 points, Hauser returned a 3-pointer, Hunter immediately hit 3 points on the outside, Jaylen Brown cut 2+0 at high speed, Bogdanovic missed 3 points, Jaylen Brown hit a fatal 3-pointer, Hunter hit a 3-point iron, Brogdon converted to cut under the basket and scored 2 points, the difference instantly reached 13 points. Trae Young scored 2 points from the inside, Whitefly defender also scored, Trae Young made a short layup, Griffin Sr. made a successful layup, and Bogdanovic and Trae Young combined to score 5 points. Brown made a foul, but missed two free throws, Griffin fought for the ball, Tatum scored on a high jumper, the Hawks attacked unsuccessfully, and Brown came with a cloud-piercing arrow from the outside, and the difference was again 13 points. Collins hit a 3-point Hawks to continue, the two teams fell into a confrontation, the Hawks had a good success rate at the end of the quarter, but they could not limit the opponent's play, the Celtics always maintained a lead of about 10 points, but time passed little by little.
With four minutes left in the game, the situation on the court changed dramatically, with Collins hitting a 2-point inside rebound, Trae Young hitting 2 of 2 and 3-pointers, and the Hawks hitting a 15-2 offensive wave to tie the score. After Horford missed a 3-pointer, Lowe scored a tough 2-pointer from the inside, Trae Young made a foul, Tatum complained about being blown off, Trae Young made all three free throws to overtake the score, the Celtics missed, and Trae Young threw a throw to the basket. In the final 30 seconds, Tatum assisted Lowe Air to score two points, Trae Young made Smart foul, hit both free throws, and the Hawks led by one point. In the last 9 seconds, White killed the basket, Trae Young fell to the ground, the referee whistled, Trae Young defended a foul, the Hawks failed to challenge, White hit all two free throws, Trae Young's last attack, super long 3-point shot, the gods are down! In the end, the Hawks defeated the Celtics 119-117 to make it 2-3!
Stats: The Hawks' Collins chipped in 22 points and 2 rebounds, Hunter had 13 points and 4 rebounds, Capela had 4 points and 7 rebounds, Trae Young had 38 points, 13 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, Bogdanovic had 18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks, Okonvu had 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, and Sadiq Bay had 12 points and 4 rebounds. The Celtics' Tatum felt cold, 1 of 11 from the outside, 19 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, typical pseudo-supergiant, Horford had 3 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocks, Smart had 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, White had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks, Jaylen Brown was in good shape, 35 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, Hauser scored 8 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, Lowe had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, and Brogdon had 14 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists!