BOSTON — After an opener that went from rout to flirting with catastrophe, the Boston Celtics got both a win and an early reminder of how lulls could spell doom in the playoffs.
Jaylen Brown had 29 points and 12 rebounds, and the Celtics capitalized on a woeful shooting performance by the Atlanta Hawks to hold on for 112-99 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first-round matchup on Saturday.
Jayson Tatum scored 25 points, 21 in the first half. Derrick White finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds for Boston, which hosts Game 2 on Tuesday.
“We expect to get their best shot,” Brown said. “We let them get a little more comfortable in the second half, so I expect the next game for them to be a little more prepared. So we’ve got to be a little more prepared as well.”
It was Brown’s first game since missing the final two of the regular season with a cut on a finger on his shooting hand. He played with tape and wrap.
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He played through pain, hitting on 12 of 23 field goal attempts, but had six turnovers. He said it as hard to grip the ball and his hand “split open” at one point. It will be examined Sunday.
The No. 2-seeded Celtics led by as many as 32 points, pouncing on an Atlanta team that missed its first 10 3-point attempts and shot 5 of 29 from beyond the arc for the game.
Atlanta used a 32-12 run to cut the deficit to 96-84 on a three-point play by Bogdan Bogdanovic early in the fourth.
The Celtics got the lead back up to 107-87. It was 110-97 with less than two minutes to play when Atlanta’s De’Andre Hunter got free on fast break. But his layup attempt was blocked by Marcus Smart.
“Human nature plays a part. But we don’t want things like that to haunt us,” Tatum said.
Smart, last season’s NBA Defensive Player of Year, finished with three steals and two blocks.
Dejounte Murray led the Hawks with 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Trae Young added 16 points.
“You can’t be down that much and expect to come back and win,” Young said. “But we still fought. We were being aggressive in that second half.”
Despite Atlanta’s late push, the Celtics sizzled from all points on the floor, connecting on 13 3 pointers.
After dropping in his third 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first half, Tatum spread his arms out wide as he backed down the court to an ovation from the TD Garden crowd.
A big part of Boston’s game plan coming in was neutralizing Young and Murray, Atlanta’s top two scorers. The Celtics did that and a lot more in the first three quarters.
Young missed his first six shots beyond the arc and was 5 of 18 from the field. Murray was 10 of 25 from the floor.
In a move to match Atlanta’s speed, Boston went small, starting White instead of big man Robert Williams in a lineup alongside Al Horford, Tatum, Brown and Smart.
It seemed to neutralize the Hawks’ attack.
Young had an especially rough start. He had a pass the first possession of the game stolen by Brown and had his first field goal attempt blocked by White on the way to missing his first six shots.
Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said before the game a point of emphasis would be not to turn down open 3s or be deterred by misses.
That wish was tested as Hawks shot 9 of 25 from the field in the opening period and 0 for 9 from beyond the arc as the Celtics took to a 29-19 lead.
Despite the late drop-off, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said he’s not worried about the late-game malaise carrying over.
“I’m not concerned at all,” he said. “This team has played great for the entire season. That’s going to happen. It’s actually good that we went through it. We had to feel that and it’s important that we learn from it.”
76ERS 121, NETS 101: James Harden hit seven 3-pointers and had 23 points and 13 assists, NBA MVP finalist Joel Embiid scored 26 points and host Philadelphia pushed back Mikal Bridges and Brooklyn.
Tobias Harris added 21 points and the 76ers hit a postseason team-record 21 3s in the opener of this Eastern Conference playoff series. The Sixers are trying to win their first NBA championship since 1983 and advance past the second round for the first time since 2001.
The No. 3-seeded 76ers host Game 2 on Monday.
Bridges scored 30 points and helped the Nets at least hang around in the first half.
KINGS 126, WARRIORS 123: De’Aaron Fox scored 38 points in his long-awaited playoff debut and host Sacramento celebrated its return to the postseason after a record 16-year drought by beating defending-champion Golden State.
The inexperienced Kings closed strong against a Warriors team that won four titles in the previous eight seasons to take Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round matchup.
Malik Monk put Sacramento up three with 2.9 seconds left by knocking down a pair of free throws and Stephen Curry missed a runner to tie it at the buzzer. Monk finished with 32 points off the bench. Curry led the Warriors with 30 points.
KNICKS 101, CAVALIERS 97: Jalen Brunson shook off foul trouble and scored 21 of his 27 in the second half, Julius Randle returned from an ankle injury to add 19 and New York welcomed Cleveland back to the NBA playoffs by holding off the host Cavaliers.
Brunson was limited to nine minutes in the first half, but hit several big shots down the stretch as the Knicks turned back Cleveland’s late rally led by Donovan Mitchell.
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