BOSTON — Daniel Theis was an unlikely hero Friday night.
With the Boston Celtics trying to preserve a 108-106 lead in the fourth quarter, Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young was attempting to create a shot in the waning seconds. It became clear his mindset was on a 3-pointer, not a two, and Theis ended up being the one tasked with guarding Young.
Despite facing a player who is tremendous at creating his own shot and drawing fouls on the perimeter, Theis made a clean block on Young, the Celtics recovered the ball and ultimately won 109-106.
“I knew we were up two,” Theis said after the game. “As soon as I switched onto him, I knew that he was going to take the three to win the game because he made a bunch in the game. Just tried to take away the shot, and his crossover — he probably would’ve beaten me for a layup, but I think he just wanted the game-winner, that’s why I just tried to take away the shot.
“Just tried to be really close. I was expecting him to go for the game-winner, to shoot the three. Because if he beats me to the rim, it’s a layup, worst case we go to overtime.”
The heads-up play was red meat to Theis’ head coach, who loves nothing more than high-IQ play.
“To have the wherewithal,” Brad Stevens said, “to take away the 3-pointer when they had no timeouts in a two-point game was outstanding.”
Here are some other notes from Friday’s Hawks-Celtics game:
— It hardly was smooth sailing for the Celtics early on.
The Celtics in the first quarter displayed one of their worst 12-minute offensive stretches of the season, and they went down 32-19 as a result.
Boston’s fortune started to shift in the second quarter, thanks in large part to nine Jaylen Brown points. Beyond just the offensive output, a well-taken timeout helped the C’s get their minds right.
Said Enes Kanter, “We got a timeout and it was like, ‘Hey, we need to step up.’ And then I was like, ‘Hey, we just need to step up and bring energy and bring leadership.’ I think all the starters did an amazing job.”
— Brown posted a team-high 24 points with 10 rebounds, the fourth time this season he’s hit the 20-10 marker.
Though Brown was the one really pushing the tempo late in the first half, Stevens attributed it to the play of Boston’s bench.
“I thought,” Stevens said, “we finally started — when we had Grant (Williams), Enes, you know, Brad Wanamaker, those guys came off the bench and gave us a much-needed lift, and then everybody else followed suit.”
— On a few occasions, things looked like they could have gone awry for a Celtics team that has dealt with its share of injuries this season.
Marcus Smart was popped in the face with an elbow by Young, and after staying down for a minute remained in the game. He said after the win that he was fine.
Williams at one point looked like he tweaked his ankle and was gutting through a sequence until a stoppage in play. That didn’t appear to be an issue though and nothing was said of his health by Stevens after the game.
Kanter had to get stitches on his chin after getting cut.
“Got stitches,” Kanter said. “So I think it’s like — I talked to the doctor — I think it’s a game-time decision tomorrow. See what happens.”
The big man did say, in a seemingly joking tone, after his media availability ended to “put that out there” about his game-time decision status. So there’s a non-zero chance he’s totally fine and just trying to mess around about his status for Saturday’s meeting with the Chicago Bulls.
