Hawks (26-29) at Celtics (32-25) Game #58 2/13/22

[gouki88]

I thought Smart played a really good game.  His shot wasn’t falling (although at least two of his misses were heaves when he got the hall with a couple of seconds left on the shot clock), but what I particularly liked was his getting to the line.  I was not happy with how the refs were calling fouls, but Smart seemed to figure out what was a foul this afternoon and got some easy points, which helped stabilize a few possessions.  I was also surprised to see a 7:0 assist-turnover ratio considering how much it felt like the ball stuck with the Js today.  I remember one bad shot early in the first quarter when he ISO’d and bricked a three after Tatum and Jaylen had had their terms with that strategy, but after that, he looked great, and while Trae Young got 30, it was not an efficient 30.

Yeah, that was the Smart I love. I've given up hoping he'll ever be consistently one thing, so it makes me able to enjoy these efforts more.

[ozgod]

Very happy with this win, because it's only the 6th time in 17 games where we have won while shooting less than .300 - and 3 of those wins have been in during this 8 game win streak. It's a sign that we are learning to win ugly, when our 3 point shot isn't falling, because our defense has been suffocating.

It's great winning when you are shooting well - you expect to win when that happens. But we have had a tendency to self destruct when we start missing 3s and we let our poor offense affect our defense, but the last month or so that hasn't been the case - our defense has remained solid regardless of whether we are hitting 3s or not. Winning ugly requires a lot of self belief and confidence so I'm glad we saw it tonight.