Boston takes out Atlanta in game 6, will face Philadelphia in East Semis

After a hard-fought series with the Atlanta Hawks, the Boston Celtics were able to eliminate them on the road tonight, winning 128-120 in game 6. The victory gave the C's a 4-2 win in the series, marching them on to the 2nd round to face off with the Philadelphia 76ers. I'll talk more about that matchup in the next few days, but for now, let's focus on how Boston was able to finish off the Hawks tonight.
In a game that was back and forth for the majority of the night, the Celtics leaned on their defense and clutch shot-making down the stretch. After the Hawks took a 113-110 lead with 6:24 remaining, Boston responded with an 11-0 run over the next 4 minutes to basically put the game out of reach. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart were all unbelievable in the closing run, making countless plays with the game hanging in the balance. 

After Joe Mazzulla was criticized for playing Smart late in game 5, he trusted his guy tonight, and Marcus delivered. Smart finished with 22 points and a +11, which was tied for the team high, to go along with 4 assists and 4 boards. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics in points, pouring in an efficient 32 on 13/25 shooting while hitting some clutch shots, none bigger than his three to tie the game at 113 right in Dejounte Murray's face.

Of course we've gotta talk about JT too. While Jayson had a rough game 5 and received some deserved criticism, Tatum bounced back like he always does, filling up the stat sheet. He concluded game 6 with 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists on 11/20 shooting in what was an all-around terrific game from the 25 year-old superstar. JT showed up in the clutch as well, including a huge three pointer and putback dunk on back-to-back possessions to put Boston up 8 with 2:07 left.
Now that we can all relax a little bit, let's take one quick moment to laugh at the Bucks. I mean my goodness. Even with a banged up Giannis, how do you lose 4-1 to an 8 seed missing 2 of their key rotational players? These past two years for them have made that 2021 title look even more like a fluke, but I can't say anything crazy until this Celtics group gets one. 12 more wins. Moving forward, Boston will resume play on Monday night against the 76ers in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. They will then play game 2 on Wednesday before heading out to Philly for games 3 and 4. I'll go more in-depth on this series this weekend, but it should be an exciting one with everything to play for. Rest up the next few days Boston fans, the guys will need all of us starting Monday night. Go Celtics!

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Celtics diehard who enjoys basketball, golf, and hanging out with my family