The Atlanta Hawks withstood the Boston Celtics' hot start to carve out a hard-earned 130-122 win in Game 3 of their series. Boston still leads 2-1 but the Hawks will host Game 4 on Sunday.
Hawks fans quickly made their presence felt on Twitter after the crucial win:
"We’re so back"
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Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, Atlanta's dynamic duo, finally unshackled themselves from the Celtics' bevy of superb perimeter defenders. They combined to score 57 points on 23-43 shooting to go with 14 assists, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
The Atlanta Hawks' much-maligned interior presence also responded to the Celtics' dominance in the paint. Atlanta crushed Boston on the boards 48-29, including 11-6 in offensive rebounds.
Clint Capela led them with 11 rebounds, four of them on the offensive end. Boston's Robert Williams and Al Horford combined for nine boards and just two on the offensive glass.
The Atlanta Hawks also made it a point to attack the rim more than they did in the first two games of the series. Tonight, they won the points in the paint battle 54-40. The Hawks had an answer to every run the Celtics mounted against them and came out the winners.
If not for the Hawks' worrying inability to take care of the ball, they would have prevented the Celtics from making this game more interesting. Atlanta's 19 turnovers to Boston's 12 helped keep the Celtics within striking distance throughout the game.
Almost everything went right for the Atlanta Hawks and they still barely won
On a night they desperately needed to win, the Atlanta Hawks played their best game of the series. Their offense, inside and out, was clicking and they were outmuscling the Boston Celtics in the paint.
They could have comfortably won this game and built a larger lead. But the Celtics just kept on fighting, never giving them an inch until the final buzzer sounded.
Trae Young and Dejounte Murray made back-to-back crucial games late in the game to finally thwart the Celtics. Had Atlanta's two best players failed to deliver down the stretch, Boston could have put them on the brink of elimination.
The Hawks may have to play near flawless basketball to beat the reigning NBA Eastern Conference champs.
At the top of Quin Snyder's to-do list for his team for Game 4 will be to cut down their turnovers, especially the unforced ones. Beating the Celtics is already a tough task. They can't afford to give them extra possessions with careless errors.
The Hawks will also have to continue fighting hard for every possible rebound. They won the rebounding contest tonight and allowed them to control the game for most of the night.
The Atlanta Hawks now have the blueprint to beat the Boston Celtics. They just have to replicate tonight's performance on Sunday and hopefully tie the series.
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