Celtics survive scare from Hawks thanks to Jayson Tatum’s stellar play

The Boston Celtics had a tough battle against the Atlanta Hawks but pulled out the win while led by star Jayson Tatum.

The Boston Celtics have now won six games in a row after defeating the Atlanta Hawks, 112-107, on Friday night.

It wasn’t an easy win for Boston, who found themselves down 55-54 at halftime and only up by three points with just seconds remaining in the fourth. However, 32 points from Jayson Tatum (on 10-19 shooting from the field and 7-12 shooting from three), along with a double-double from Enes Kanter (16 points and 15 rebounds) and 31 combined points from wings Marcus Smart and Romeo Langford made the difference for the Celtics, who saw Langford score seven of the team’s last 11 points with Atlanta down just five points with 2:47 left in the fourth.

The most memorable play of the game — an aesthetically-pleasing sidestep three — may have come from Tatum but it was a team effort from Boston that brought them the win after they saw an early 24-10 lead dissipate rather quickly in a game of runs.

Tatum, who scored 30+ points in consecutive games for the first time in his career (the first Celtics player since Paul Pierce to accomplish the feat in his first three seasons).

Kanter, who recorded his eight double-double of the season (Boston is 8-0 when Kanter records a double-double).

Langford, who scored a career-high 16 points.

Although the Hawks played without All-Star point guard Trae Young and a few of their recently acquired players, it was a gritty win by a Celtics team that was also shorthanded, missing Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Daniel Theis and Robert Williams. Their biggest issue was containing power forward John Collins (30 points, 10 rebounds) and guards Kevin Huerter and Brandon Goodwin (46 combined points) but they made plays when they needed to, especially at the end of the game.

Boston, now 36-15, will face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. They’ll need better performance, particularly on defense, against the Thunder and more healthy bodies as well. However, the Celtics are on a roll and gaining plenty of momentum before the All-Star Break, which Tatum and Walker will be a part of.