After a two game winning streak, the Celtics were unable to capitalize on their momentum while on the road. They fell to the to the all-star starter Trey Young and his Atlanta Hawks team 108-92.

Despite things looking up for the C’s and their shooting they hit a slump again. Boston shot 19% from deep and 34.9% from the field. Atlanta was able to beat those percentages by a wide margin.

Jayson Tatum finished with 20 points and Jaylen Brown had 26 points and 12 rebounds. And of course, if those two struggle, the C’s are most likely going to lose. The bench scoring was underwhelming. Dennis Schröder only dropped 2 points in his 15 minutes on the floor. 

Al Horford dropped 1 point…. 1 single point. But Grant Williams beat that by scoring… nothing… in 23 minutes. Even the bench players who don’t typically play was able to score. 

However, despite the poor offense, Marcus Smart’s 17 points and three’s were able to keep the C’s in the game for the most part. Tatum and Brown was able to drive then kick out for the three. But too many times Tatum got into his bag and played iso ball on the perimeter. Then it was Brown’s turn to do his two dribble, stop, turn around, fade away mid-range shot. 

“We got back in the game by guarding and got some ball movement,” said coach Ime Udoka. “It seemed evident, coming right out in the third, that we penetrated and got some open 3s to Marcus, but I felt like we went a little iso-heavy and got stagnant. The turnovers hurt us as well.”

The Celtics now fall to .500 at 25-25 on the season. The Hawks are only 2 games behind them. This game was a good chance to see what they can do on the road against another eastern conference team failing to meet expectations. 

Nonetheless, the Celtics are able to get that game back Saturday in New Orleans against the Pelicans.