Season Over: Celtics Fall To Hawks 104-92 In Game 6
BOSTON (CBS) -- The season is over for the Boston Celtics.
A fun season finished in disappointing fashion, as the Celtics fell to the Atlanta Hawks, 104-92, in Thursday night's Game 6 in Boston to lose the first-round series 4-2. Boston whittled Atlanta's 28-point lead in the fourth quarter down to just 10 late in the game, but ran out of steam in the end.
Another bad start doomed Boston, as they had just 33 points at halftime on 28 percent shooting. They shot just 36.2 percent for the game and just 38.4 percent for the series.
Atlanta scored 39 points in the third quarter to take a 21 point lead into the game's final frame. They led by as much as 28 in the fourth quarter before the Celtics cut it to a 12-point game, 95-83, on an Isaiah Thomas three-point play.
Thomas led all scorers with 25 points and 10 assists while Jae Crowder, who fouled out in the fourth quarter, scored 15 on 5-for-15 shooting. Paul Millsap led a balanced attack by the Hawks with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Adam Jones & Rich Keefe React To Season-Ending Loss:
It's Atlanta's first postseason series win over Boston since 1958, when the then-St. Louis Hawks beat the Celtics for the NBA Championship.
Now the Celtics, who won 48 games during the regular season, turn their attention to the offseason. Danny Ainge and company should be a busy bunch, as Boston owns the Brooklyn Nets' first round pick (which has the third-best chance at being a Top 3 pick), young talent to dangle on the trade market, and cap space to sign a pair of top free agents.
