GAME 9: Atlanta Hawks (6-2) @ Boston Celtics (6-3)
Hawks' captain and superstar
SG Joe Johnson (32 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl) proved again why he is worth a tad bit more than 4-years/$60 million. The player of the game lead the Hawks to a victory over the tough Boston Celtics. Often double teamed or pressured, JJ made it look very easy out there.
The Hawks won by a slim margin as they were outrebounded and often outhustled tonight. The Celtics had a +11 rebound margin against the Hawks and had 8 more offensive rebounds than the Hawks did. Keep in mind that this was a night that the Celtics were without one of their premiere bigs in
C Kendrick Perkins.
SF Marvin Williams (16 pt, 7 rebs, 4 ast) was one of the players who helped the Hawks in the first half, but shot a very poor percentage in the second. He was missing wide open three pointers and mid-range shots and finished the game with a weak field goal ratio: 6-of-20. Among the players who helped lead the Hawks to a win over their bitter rivals were
PG Mike Bibby (19 pt, 3 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl) and
PF Josh Smith (13 pt, 10 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 5 blk).
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Scoreboard
|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | Total |
Celtics (6-4)
|
| 27
| 31
| 27
| 22
| 0 | 107
|
Hawks (7-2)
|
| 24
| 34
| 28
| 28
| 0 | 108
|
Next Game: The Hawks ride their five-game winning streak back home to face off against Chris Paul and the 6-4 New Orleans Hornets.