Boston Celtics defeated Atlanta Hawks 128-120 to win the series and set up a mouthwatering matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals
- Jaylen Brown led the way for Boston with 32 points while Jayson Tatum had 32
- Trae Young again led the way for Atlanta in the loss by 30 points
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Al Horford hit a huge 3-pointer against his former team and the Boston Celtics broke open a tight game in the closing minutes to edge out the Atlanta Hawks 128-120 on Thursday night for a 4-2 opening-round playoff series win.
The second-seeded Celtics advance to the third-seeded Philadelphia 76ers, who have been resting since completing their four-game sweep against Brooklyn last Saturday.
Game 1 is Monday night in Boston.
Boston ripped off an 11-0 run with three consecutive 3-pointers, with Horford’s big shot coming off Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown at around 3 seconds.
Tatum closed the spurt with a dunk, giving the Celtics a 121–113 lead with 2:07 remaining.
The Celtics defeated the Atlanta Hawks to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals
Brown led the Celtics with 32 points, while Tatum had 30.
Horford, who played in Atlanta from 2007 to 2016, scored with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
After leading the Hawks to an improbable victory in Game 5 in Boston, Atlanta’s Trae Young ran out of steam in the second half. He missed 12 of 13 shots in the last two quarters.
Young had 30 points and 10 assists, but he only finished 9 of 28 from the field.
More to follow…