NBA: Jalen Johnson leads Hawks past Celtics
Jalen Johnson had 19 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to help the visiting Atlanta Hawks extend their winning streak to four games by beating the Boston Celtics 117-106 Wednesday night.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker led Atlanta with 21 points. The Hawks received 17 points from Onyeka Okongwu and 15 from Dyson Daniels.
READ MORE | NBA scores today: Warriors vs Jazz, Cavaliers vs Lakers, and other games
Atlanta made 18 of its 42 3-point attempts, and scored 23 points off 16 Boston turnovers. Alexander-Walker connected on 5 of 12 3-point attempts.
The Hawks, who are 9-13 at home, improved their road record to 15-12.
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 21 points and seven rebounds, but was 9 of 20 from the field and missed each of his five 3-point shots. Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard and Anfernee Simons each tossed in 12 for the Celtics, who never led after Atlanta went in front 7-5 with 9:37 remaining in the opening quarter.
Boston center Neemias Queta did not play because of an illness. Queta is averaging 10.0 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game this season.
Atlanta assumed control early with a 12-0 run that put the Hawks up 14-5. An Alexander-Walker 3-pointer extended Atlanta's lead to 32-11 with 2:24 left in the opening quarter, and the Hawks led 38-18 after 12 minutes.
Atlanta extended its advantage to 60-38 with 3:33 left in the second quarter, but Boston scored the final eight points in the first half and trailed 60-46 at halftime. The Hawks made 11 of their 23 3-point attempts (48%) in the first two quarters.
The Celtics trailed by 23 at one point in the third, but sliced their deficit to 11 points, 87-76, at the end of three quarters. The Celtics failed to get closer than 11 points in the fourth.
It was the second game between the teams this season. The Celtics won the first matchup 132-106 in Atlanta on Jan. 17. — Field Level Media/Reuters