Junior Holiday still couldn’t play because of a sprained right ankle, so the Celtics chose to start Dalano Banton.

Boston got the ball in the paint to start the game. Al Horford scored the first basket of the game under the basket. Soon after, Jaylen Brown scored easily on a backdoor cut, giving the C’s a 12–4 lead.

Following a good beginning, the Celtics missed a number of layups, which allowed the Hawks to score as Trae Young and De’Andre Hunter made back-to-back threes, which forced Boston to call an early timeout with 7:09 left in the first quarter.

With just under two minutes left in the quarter, the C’s went on a 14-4 run to make the score 33-21. The run was helped by back-to-back points by the Hornets and the start of Tatum’s offense. Tatum scored 10 points and had four assists in the first quarter.

After that, though, the Hawks scored five straight points to end the quarter and make it 33–26 going into the second. Trae Young made 5/7 shots and scored 13 points in the quarter.

Atlanta has been one of the best-scoring teams in the league lately. They went on a 5-0 run at the end of the first quarter and then an 11-2 run in the second, with Bogdan Bogdanovic finding his rhythm on offense.

Because of the run, Joe Mazzulla had to call a break early, with 10 minutes left.

After that, there was the Jayson Tatum Show. Tatum made two three-pointers in a row to give Boston life and bring the lead back to eight with 8:03 left. After a Derrick White and-1, Tatum got the ball and finished the right-handed finger roll with his bag. This forced a Hawks timeout with 7:14 left in the game and Boston ahead 48–36.

The crowd went crazy when Jaylen Brown slammed Clint Capela on a poster. Young had kept the Hawks in the game.

With the energy from the dunk, Boston went into the break ahead 69–53. Before the break, Boston had moved the ball around and made 26 goals with 15 assists.

Tatum scored 21 points in the first half, more than anyone else. White and Brown both scored 13 points. Neemias Queta only played for seven minutes in the first half, but he grabbed six rebounds and scored five points.

Trae Young has been on fire for a few weeks now. In the first half, Young had 20 points and six assists.

At the start of the half, both teams traded blows, but the Celtics built their lead to 20 points (78–58), which forced the Hawks to call a timeout with 7:46 left.

The Celtics played well on offense in the quarter, but the Hawks kept the game close with a 13-0 run that cut the Celtics’ lead to six points (83–77) with less than four minutes left.

After a timeout, Queta finished the run with a soft finish in the paint. With 2:43 left in the quarter, Sam Hauser made a corner three to make the score 88-77 and give his team a 10-point lead again.

The run of five points was quickly stopped by Bogdanovic, who made his first eight shots and scored 23 points.

When he played, Queta made the most of his time by getting offensive rebounds and giving the Celtics (and the fans) energy.

At the half, Atlanta was down 16 points. Going into the fourth quarter, they were only down 8 points.

By making the first shot of the fourth quarter, a step-back three, Sam Hauser kept his hot streak going.

When Queta is on the court, the Celtics play drop defense, which lets the Hawks keep hurting them. This gives Trae an open shot every time he comes off a screen. From the start of the fourth to the end, Young scored 10 points.

The C’s went back to their switching defense when Queta was taken out, which helped them on the first play by making the other team miss. The next time Atlanta had the ball, Tatum stole it. This allowed Banton to make a poor but successful fast-break dunk, which forced Atlanta to call a timeout (105–94) with 6:56 left.

Hauser continued his show with a corner three after the break, which made Boston’s lead 14 points.

That was a long time between Dejounte Murray’s first field goal and Boston’s last one. The Hawks’ offense caused a lot of trouble. The Hawks were able to get within striking distance thanks to Young and Bogdanovic.

With two minutes left and the score tied at 10, neither team scored. White made a great pass to Tatum, who cut to the basket, which pretty much won the game for Boston.

They came in as the second-best attack, but the Celtics held them to 103 points.

It was going to be very important to rebound, and Boston’s big guys did their part. Al Horford grabbed 15 rebounds, which was the most of the season, and Queta ended with 10.

Tatum scored 34 points to lead the Celtics, and Brown added 21.

The next game for Boston is Tuesday when they play the Chicago Bulls in an In-Season Tournament game. The game will start at 7:30 p.m. EST.