ATLANTA — The Hawks didn’t win this one with a slow burn. They won it with one burst.
Atlanta (43-33) used a 36-point third quarter to swing momentum and close out a 112-102 win over the Celtics (50-25) on Monday night at State Farm Arena, turning a one-point halftime edge into a cushion Boston couldn’t erase.
Game flow: one quarter changed everything
Boston set the early tone with a 30-point first quarter, edging Atlanta 30-29 after one. The Hawks answered in the second, winning the frame 25-24 to take a 54-54 tie into halftime — a dead-even game that felt like it could go either way.
Then came the pivot: Atlanta detonated in the third, outscoring Boston 36-22. In a matchup between two teams with postseason positioning on the line, that 14-point swing was the difference between a grind-it-out finish and a controlled runway.
Boston made a push in the fourth, winning the quarter 26-22, but the damage was already done. Atlanta’s third-quarter separation held up to the final horn.
The separator: Atlanta’s passing vs. Boston’s stagnation
The cleanest indicator of how this game tilted: assists. Atlanta logged 28 assists; Boston finished with 18.
That gap showed up in the moments that matter — when the game tightened, Atlanta generated offense through connectivity, while Boston too often had to manufacture looks without the same level of flow. The Hawks’ ability to keep the ball moving in the third quarter helped them turn a toss-up into a two-possession game, then into a comfortable margin.
Turning point
It was the opening of the second half. Coming out of halftime tied at 54, Atlanta immediately changed the math of the night by stacking a 36-22 third quarter. Boston never fully recovered from that stretch, even with a stronger fourth.
What it means going forward
For Atlanta, this was a statement win that reinforced its recent form (WWLWW) and underscored a winning formula: create advantages with pace and passing, then let the scoreboard pressure the opponent into tougher possessions.
For Boston, now 50-25 and coming off a stretch of uneven form (LWWWL), the loss was less about the start — the Celtics scored 54 in the first half — and more about the middle. Against a team that can win a quarter by 14, the margin for a single lapse is thin, and the third quarter proved it.