After two frustrating losses to the Thunder and Raptors, the Celtics took out their collective frustrations on the Atlanta Hawks last night. This was a classic wire-to-wire destruction of the finest. It was clear from the beginning that the C's would be in full-throttle mode, and actually accelerated their game as it went on instead of regressing.
Highlighted by an incredible and historic first quarter (largest lead after the first quarter by ANY Celtic team, post shot-clock era) the C's re-instilled confidence in their fans and themselves. Enjoy the near flawless clips below.
Q1: The game begins with a nice Paul Pierce elbow jumper on the first possession of the game to get the onslaught started. Other highlights include:
- Kevin Garnett knocking down that baseline jumper
- Shaq handing it off to Nate Robinson who drains a mid-range jumper
- Ray Allen stealing the errant Mike Bibby pass, eventually leading to a KG-to-Ray give-and-go... Ray misses but Shaq is there for the follow-up slam
- Good team defense on Joe Johnson, leading to an Al Horford miss that KG rebounds
- Shaq with a handful of offensive rebounds, leading to a Nate bomb
- Shaq with the aggressive left-handed slam
- KG flips it up for an and 1
- Ray dishing it to Shaq for his second left-handed slam
- Nate and Ray working the 2-on-1 fast break
- Good defense forcing a deep, missed Joe Johnson three
- KG getting the roll on a fall-away jumper in the post
- Another desperation deep three by JJ, eventually leading to a Ray Allen lay-up
- KG with the elbow jumper
- Pierce taking it to the basket for two
- Nate drilling a transition three, Dana Barros style... then flaps his wings
- Semih Erden with the nice left-handed sweeping hook
- Big Baby with the baseline jumper
- Delonte West following his own shot with the put-back lay-up
Q2: The second quarter begins with a nice night shot of the ATL, followed by a Delonte basket. Other highlights include:
- A straight-away Delonte jumper
- Marquis Daniels with the veteran move, drawing the shooting foul on Jordan Crawford
- Good defense in the lane on consecutive trips, first on a driving Jordan Crawford, then on a driving Al Horford
- Pierce with the spin-move jumper
- Nate with the close-range baseline jumper
- Pierce breaking up the attempted fast break alley-oop by Atlanta
- KG 'doin work on Josh Smith in the post on a couple of possessions
- Shaq 'doin work in the post
- Ray with the floater
- Horford with the huge block on Pierce's dunk attempt, but as he celebrates, Ray Allen destroys any confidence the Hawks has building up by drilling a three
Q3: The second half begins with a solid defensive set, followed by Nate inbounding to Shaq for the quick lay-up. Other highlights include:
- KG 'doin works on the defensive boards
- KG with the jumper over Josh Smith
- Pierce with the 24 second shot-clock buzzer beating jumper over Josh Smith
- Pierce with the runner over Marvin Williams
- Kg with yet another jumper over Josh Smith
- Shaq with the jump hook in the lane over Marvin Williams
- KG rejecting JJ's lay-up attempt
- Pierce with the and 1, screams, and KG calls him a "beast"
- KG with a loud rebound
- Nate with a couple of baseline threes, the second shows his sprained ankle
- Solid defense by the second unit
- Marquis with the nice recovery block on Zaza Pachulia, then Zaza takes down Big Baby
Q4: The final stanza begins with a strong move to the basket by Marquis, drawing the foul on Pachulia. Other highlights include:
- Delonte's monster block on Pachulia
- Delonte's second monster block, this time on Jordan Crawford
- Delonte nearly getting a third monster block on the streaking Josh Powell, but bothers it enough (along with Von Wafer) to force the missed dunk
- Delonte with the beautiful 3/4 court pass to the streaking Wafer who gets hammered and goes to the line for two
- Rookie Avery Bradley making his professional debut
- Bradley with his first NBA rebound and first points (two free throws)
- Bradley to Luke Harangody for the jumper
- Wafer with a nice drive and sweeping finger-roll for two
- Marquis with another block, this time on Jordan Crawford
- Marquis with a beautiful fastball to Semih for the dunk
- Marquis with another block, followed by a nice steal by Bradley
