By DJ Harding
The Boston Celtics last playoff game in TD Garden before today was Game six of the NBA Finals which resulted in a loss and a Golden State Warriors Championship.
Boston would look to make it back to the Finals once again as the number two seed for the second consecutive year.
The Celtics will face the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of this year’s playoffs which is the 13th playoff matchup between the two franchises.
Atlanta comes in as the seventh seed after upsetting the Miami Heat in the Play In Tournament to move from eighth to seventh.
The Hawks would start this series with a cold start as they would shoot 38% from the field and 17% from three in tonight’s game.
Boston on the other hand would shoot 47% from the field and 39% from three in what was a commanding 112-99 win.
The Celtics largest lead would be 30 points as they would see dominant performances from their Star Wing Duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
The Celtics Duo would combine for 54 points which is two shy of what they averaged on the season.
Their season average would be the fourth best by a duo since the 1974-75 season. Which puts behind Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant who scored over 56 twice and James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
Jaylen Brown’s 29 points and 12 rebounds would lead all players in both categories with Tatum having the second best in both categories with 25 points and 11 rebounds himself.
Those weren’t Boston’s only 20 point scorers as Derrick White would score 24 points as well.
The Hawks would struggle with Dejounte Murray as the only Hawks player with over 20 points with 24.
Atlanta’s star Point Guard Trae Young would shout 5-18 from the field and 1-5 from three in a 16 point performance which is nearly half of what he averaged against Boston in the regular season.
Both Teams will return to TD Garden for game two on Tuesday as Atlanta looks to even up the series and steal a game in Boston, while the Celtics looks to take a 2-0 series lead.
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