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Jayson Tatum had 29 points and an emphatic dunk to end a clinching late run and the Boston Celtics beat the visiting Atlanta Hawks 119-106 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Derrick White added 26 points and seven rebounds, and Jaylen Brown scored 18 points. Boston outscored Atlanta 64-40 in the paint.
Dejounte Murray led the Hawks with 29 points, and Trae Young had 24.
Down by 20, the Hawks cut it to single digits late in the third quarter.
With Atlanta trailing 74-57, Young went to the bench and sat out the final 7:07 of the period, briefly visiting the locker room.
go get those tough buckets 😤 <a href=”https://t.co/hTNfdJxQXl”>pic.twitter.com/hTNfdJxQXl</a>
—@celtics
His teammates picked it up without him, outscoring the Celtics 24-16 to pull within nine — at 90-81 — entering the fourth.
Young returned to begin the final period and scored four straight points with just over five minutes to play to make it 104-95.
While the Hawks brought a better shooting touch on Tuesday, the Celtics took their overall energy up a notch, repeatedly beating Atlanta down the court in transition and outhustling Hawks to loose balls.
One glaring example was in the second quarter when Brown pried the ball free as De’Andre Hunter drove by.
Malcolm Brogdon corralled it and tossed it ahead a sprinting Brown, who had split between Young and Dejounte Murray as they got caught ball watching.
Cavaliers beat Knicks to even series
Darius Garland scored 32 points, 26 while setting an aggressive tone for Cleveland in the first half, and the Cavaliers evened their Eastern Conference playoff series against New York at one game apiece with a 107-90 victory over the Knicks on Tuesday night.
Garland scored 15 points in the second quarter, when Cleveland tightened down defensively and dominated New York, forcing nine turnovers on the way to opening a 20-point halftime lead. The Cavs pushed their lead to 29 in the fourth.
Cleveland’s blowout ended with a hard foul.
Caris LeVert scored 24 points off the bench and Donovan Mitchell added 17 and a career playoff-high 13 assists for the Cavs, who were much more physical than in Game 1 and went toe to toe with the Knicks.
Randle scored 22 points and Jalen Brunson added 20 for New York, which got the split it needed in rowdy Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to head home for Game 3 at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Oh, you wanted more DG-three content? Admin’s got you. 🤝<a href=”https://twitter.com/dariusgarland22?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@dariusgarland22</a> | <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/LetEmKnow?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#LetEmKnow</a> <a href=”https://t.co/EmIgaARxBN”>pic.twitter.com/EmIgaARxBN</a>
—@cavs
The Cavs matched the Knicks’ physicality from the outset, winning the 50/50 balls that went to New York in the opener. And if handling Cleveland’s new-found toughness wasn’t enough of a challenge, the Knicks bashed each other.
During one sequence in the second quarter as the Cavs were beginning to pull away, Randle turned to run up the floor and accidentally smacked Brunson in the face, causing his teammate to recoil in pain.
The 23-year-old was timid in his playoff debut, failing to take a shot in the fourth quarter and finishing with just one assist in 43 minutes on Saturday. Following practice Monday, he had a deep conversation with Mitchell, who urged his young teammate to be more forceful.
Garland got the message.
He drained a pair of 3-pointers during a 13-4 run in the second quarter and then showed no fear when he drove to the basket and tried to dunk over 7-foot Knicks centre Isaiah Hartenstein, who got away with goaltending while fouling Cleveland’s guard.
The Cavs bench erupted at seeing Garland’s bravado, and Mitchell slapped his hands before urging the sellout crowd to recognize him. The moment seemed to rattle the Knicks as New York’s Josh Hart was called for a technical foul.
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