Celtics lean on their defense to close out Hawks in Game 6

The Boston Celtics actually knocked the Atlanta Hawks out of their method. 

The NBA’s third-best defense in the routine season hasn’t constantly lived up to that billing the last coupleof weeks, however it definitely did down the stretch Thursday night. Three various Celtics obstructed shots by 3 various Hawks in the last two-and-a-half minutes to seal a 128-120 win, a 4-2 series success, and a date in the next round with the Philadelphia 76ers. Their swarming defense likewise required the Hawks to toss the ball off a Boston protector protecting the incoming pass 3 times in a row to prevent a five-second offense. The 4th incoming effort resulted in a pass that bounced throughout the court unblemished into the Celtics’ bench for a turnover. 

It was a starkly various efficiency than how they closed Game 5 in Boston 2 days earlier. The Celtics appeared defenseless, on their house flooring, to stop Atlanta in the 4th quarter, getting outscored 37-25, consistingof a game-winning 3 by Trae Young. 

The Game 5 negligence wasn’t restricted to the defensive end, either. The Celtics devoted 4 turnovers in the last three-and-a-half minutes, 2 of them by Marcus Smart, who likewise fouled Young at midcourt with 15 seconds left. That offered Young 2 complimentary tosses, which he made, turning a one-point Boston lead into a one-point deficit.

On Thursday night, it was entirely various. The Celtics scored on 6 of their last 7 offensive belongings while requiring 3 missedouton shots and 2 turnovers defensively in the last minute.

“I like how we didn’t unwind, we were proactive, we were arranged,” stated Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla of the late Game 6 execution. “It was absolutely various from Game 5.”

Smart, as he typically does, atoned for his Game 5 sins in Game 6, scoring the Celtics’ last 7 points and assisting to limitation Young to a far less reliable night, requiring 28 shots to rating 30 points, 25 of them in the veryfirst half. Jayson Tatum likewise rebounded — actually and figuratively — with a game-high 14 rebounds to go with 30 points and 7 helps and one of those late-game obstructs on John Collins.

“I idea Smart was significant, specifically late in the 4th quarter,” Mazzulla stated. “He got us arranged, and then he was kind of the trigger guy duetothefactthat of their hits. They were blitzing, and he made the right play.”

Ric Bucher is an NBA author for FOX Sports. He formerly composed for Bleacher Report, ESPN The Magazine and The Washington Post and hasactually composed 2 books, “Rebound,” on NBA forward Brian Grant’s fight with young start Parkinson’s, and “Yao: A Life In Two Worlds.” He likewise has a day-to-day podcast, “On The Ball with Ric Bucher.” Follow him on Twitter @RicBucher.