For about a quarter and a half, the Hawks played solid basketball against the defending champion Boston Celtics. Then a 34-9 run by the Celtics virtually ended the game in the first half. The Hawks were down key rotation players like Bogdan Bogdanovic, De'Andre Hunter, Kobe Bufkin and Vit Krejci, but the Celtics showed the big gap between the two teams tonight. The Celtics won 123-93 and barely sweated outside of the first quarter.

It can be difficult to draw big conclusions from a defeat, but I did my best.

The Hawks trailed by just 35-30 at the end of the first half but couldn't keep up. After taking a 44-41 lead with 8:39 left in the second quarter, the Celtics ended the first half (and the game) with a 34-9 run that gave them a 75-53 lead early in the half . The Celtics shot 54% from the field and 47% from three, but it was their defense that got the job done. Boston held Atlanta to 40% shooting and 1-10 from three in the quarter. The Celtics outscored the Hawks on the jump and made 11 more three-pointers in the first half. The game was effectively over at that point and the Hawks never managed to get a finish.

It will be a tall order for any team to beat the Celtics, but the Hawks didn't even have a prayer. The Hawks shot 4-for-20 from three players in the first half and with the way Boston shot the ball, Atlanta didn't give itself a chance.

Young hasn't had many bad performances this season, but tonight was by far his worst. Young finished the game with two points on 1-10 shooting and six assists. The Celtics have elite defenders everywhere, but for Atlanta to have a chance of winning these games, Young will have to be the best player on the court. He wasn't there tonight and the results confirmed that.

It's hard to say anything positive in such a one-sided game, but Onyeka Okongwu played well in the minutes he played. He finished the game with a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds) and shot 8-12 from the floor. Again, it was a bad night for everyone involved, but I thought Okongwu played solidly throughout and did some damage on the glass in the second half of the game.