Hawks 112, Celtics 102

 

Okay, Brown's back, so they sit out Tatum for the night. Brown responded with a 29-point, 10-rebound double double, and was one assist short of a triple double, but the Celtics lost to the Atlanta Hawks. Tied at the half, the Celtics got outscored 36-22 in the third quarter and never really recovered from that deficit.

Boston (50-25) has already clinched a playoff berth and lead the Atlantic Division by two games with seven left to the season, including one against the second-place Knicks. They trail Detroit by four games in the conference and are probably not catching up to the Pistons, barring a miracle. So long story short, this late-season road loss probably doesn't make much difference, but it still kinda sucks.

Shake it off and move on: from Atlanta, the Celtics fly down to Miami to play the Heat (40-36) on Wednesday night. ESPN will be carrying that game.