Jamal Crawford, Zaza Pachulia help Atlanta Hawks beat Boston Celtics 88-83
The Atlanta Hawks pulled off a hard-fought 88-83 victory over the Boston Celtics at the Philips Arena on Friday night.
The victory extended Atlanta's winning streak to four games. However, the Celtics are still ahead of the Hawks by nine games, standing third in the Eastern Conference with 53 victories in the 2010-11 season.
Guard Jamal Crawford came off the bench with a team-high 20 points, four assists and five rebounds for Atlanta.
Centre Zaza Pachulia had a brilliant night as he scored 10 of his overall 15 points in the final 12 minutes to help the Hawks rally from a 12-point third quarter deficit. Pachulia also grabbed 10 rebounds for the Hawks, who have won six of their last 10
games.
Hawks coach Larry Drew acknowledged the way Pachulia took the game away from the Celtics in the fourth quarter. In addition to that, Drew also appreciated the sizzling performance of Crawford, who came off the bench to lead the team.
He said, "Zaza came in and just gave us huge, huge minutes. Game balls to both he and Jamal Crawford. Both guys came off the bench and did what we look for them to do. We need Jamal aggressive off the dribble, and attacking. We need Zaza being aggressive
and making big man plays. He did that."
Joe Johnson scored 19 points while Al Horford registered his 35th double-double of the season with 16 points and a game-high 15 rebounds in the victory.
Paul Pierce headed Boston, who lost their 15th road game of the current season, with a game-high 25 points. Guard Rajon Rondo had 13 points and 10 rebounds while forward Kevin Garnett finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the defeat.
Jermaine O’Neal added just one point and one rebound, as he was limited to 15 minutes on court. This was Jermaine's second game after his comeback from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
Match Analysis
Both teams struggled early from the field, but the Hawks got enough of a rhythm midway through the opening quarter to take a 23-21 lead into the second.
Generally, though, it was a half with no flow. However, the biggest excitement came on Rondo’s running reserve lay-up shot that tied the game at 41 with less than three minutes to go in the second quarter. The Celtics then went on an 11-3 run in the last
three minutes of the quarter to take a 52-44 advantage into half time.
The Hawks limited the Celtics to 16 points in the third quarter but Boston managed to take a 68-62 lead into the final period. Atlanta overcame the deficit, opening the fourth quarter with a 7-1 run. However, back-to-back baskets from Boston - including
another three-pointer from Rondo - put them ahead by 73-71.
Atlanta, though, used a 15-8 run midway through the final stanza to take an 86-81 lead. Pierce’s pair of free throws closed the gap to 86-83 with over 30 seconds remaining. Atlanta's Al Horford then responded with a key tip-in at the final buzzer to seal
the victory.
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