Paul Pierce helps the undermanned Boston Celtics defeat the Atlanta Hawks 87-80 - NBA Playoff 2012: Game 2 Recap
On Tuesday night here at the Philips Center in Atlanta, in Game 2 of the first round series, Boston Celtics came over the big hurdle of snatching home court advantage back by defeating the Atlanta Hawks with a score line of 87-80.
Celtics were undermanned on the night with starting point guard, Rajon Rondo suspended and Ray Allen out with injury. However, the C`s still had Paul Pierce who answered the call in a major way, accepting the responsibility while
racking up 36 points and 14 rebounds.
Kevin Garnett followed him up with a double-double of his own, signing off with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Avery Bradley also played well for his 14 points in the game.
For the Hawks side, Joe Johnson led the way with 22 points, Jeff Teague was not far behind with 18 and Josh Smith notched up a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
However it turned out to be not good enough as they were able to stop the single handed Pierce, charge who outscored the Hawks 18-15 at the end of the game, on his own to stun Atlanta with a come from behind win.
Pierce and the Celtics came out gunning in the first quarter as Pierce managed 13 points in that frame while the visiting Boston did their best to stay equal in this contest after a poor showing in Game 1.
In the opening period, there was not much to separate the two teams, there were a total of 4 ties in the period and after the first 12 minutes, the scores were 24 each.
At the start of the second quarter, Boston were able to open up a 5 point advantage but till the 5:36 mark, the scores were all square again. In the next several minutes, Hawks added 6 points to their tally while holding the Celtics
to only 2. This allowed the home side to put some daylight between them and their opponents; the score line at the halfway stage was 44-41.
The third quarter was the highlight stage of the game with both teams making significant runs in that period. Hawks started the period off with an 11-5 run by the 7:52 mark and went onto dominate the proceeding after that. Courtesy
of a three pointer from Johnson at the 3:08 mark, Atlanta, were finally able to get their advantage into double figures.
However the C`s were not going out that easy. For the remaining portion of the third quarter and the opening 3:11 minutes of the fourth, they responded with 12-1 run to make the scores level at 66 and set up the match for an interesting
finish.
The scores remained close for the next several minutes but the turning point of the game came at the 4:20 mark when Josh Smith had to leave the game with a knee injury. This put an end to the little dominance the Hawks held inside
the paint allowing Boston to take over the game.
Pierce scored the next 7 points after that to turn the game on its head making the score 81-75 in Boston`s favour. In the remaining time of the game, Bradley, Garnett, Pierce comfortably knocked down two free throws each for the
C`s to even up the series 1-1. Game 3 of the series is scheduled to take place at the T.D. Garden as the series now shifts to Boston.
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