Unlike their previous win against the Atlanta Hawks, Sunday’s was a team victory for the Boston Celtics.
Marcus Smart was huge down the stretch on both ends, hitting timely triples, finding open teammates for easy looks, and stymying the red-hot Paul Millsap in the post and on the offensive glass. Evan Turner hit a big jumper in overtime. Jonas Jerebko had a double-double while holding Al Horford to a measly five points. Jae Crowder hounded Kyle Korver and even made a pair of three-pointers.
With the opportunity for to essentially end the game and tie this ultra-competitive series 2-2 late in overtime, though, it was time for Isaiah Thomas to live up to his billing as Boston’s star.
The mighty mite’s dagger three put the Celtics up seven points with 30 seconds remaining, a deficit that proved too big for the Hawks to overcome. Boston won by a final score of 102-95.
This season’s crop of first-round series hasn’t exactly lived up to standards of the past. This one, however, is shaping up to be an absolute classic. Game 5 is Tuesday. We highly recommend tuning in.
