Hawks Overcome Double-Digit Deficit to Beat Celtics Yet Again

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Jan 11, 2010

Hawks Overcome Double-Digit Deficit to Beat Celtics Yet Again The Celtics watched a double-digit lead and nine-point halftime edge slowly slip away on Monday night at the TD Garden, as the Hawks stormed back to beat the C's 102-96.

On a frustrating night in Boston, the Celtics fell to 0-3 against the Hawks this season and found out that Kevin Garnett would miss at least another 10 days of action.

Hawks 102, Celtics 96
TD Garden, Boston, Mass.
Jan. 11, 2010

Live Blog | Box Score

Headliner: Joe Johnson had his second-best night of the season, leading all scorers in the game with 36 points. Johnson was 14-for-25 from the floor and 5-for-7 from 3-point range to lead the Atlanta offense. Johnson finished the game with a plus-12 rating in 42 minutes of play.

Unsung Hero: Jamal Crawford scored 17 points off the bench for the Hawks, finishing the night with the most points on the Hawks behind Johnson. Crawford was 2-for-4 from behind the arc, 7-for-8 from the line and added six assists in 32 minutes.

Scrub: After a flagrant foul was called on Glen Davis in the third quarter, Doc Rivers was ejected for arguing the call with the officials. Instead of igniting a fire under the Celtics, who led by seven at the time, the ejection fueled an Atlanta comeback instead. The Hawks gradually cut down the Celtics' lead in their eventual win after Rivers was tossed, and the Celtics coaching staff failed to make proper substitutions down the stretch to add to the losing effort.

Key Moment: After letting the Hawks come all the way back to tie the game, the Celtics found themselves tied at 96 with 2:16 left to play. But over the final two minutes of the game, the Celtics were unable to make a big stop against the Hawks, and more importantly, they were unable to do anything offensively, failing to find the basket over the final two-plus minutes. The Hawks took advantage of their offensive chances to outscore the Celtics 25-16 in the final quarter.

What's Next: The Celtics have Tuesday off before heading to New Jersey to take on the historically bad Nets. The C's will play on back-to-back nights with a game at home against the Bulls on Thursday, but then they are off until Monday, when they host the Mavericks.

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