Hawks fly high against Celtics

It got worse for the Lakers after the interval as the Warriors cut loose, outscoring their opponents by 35-17 to extend their lead to 89-55 heading into the final quarter.

“It shows we have to finish”, rookie center Karl-Anthony Towns said. If we’re not going to be connected, if we don’t play well, we’ll lose. “We need to get back to being a team, back to one direction”.

The festivities then turned to more traditional fare, including a team-produced video package highlighting Mutombo’s myriad contributions on and off the court and effusive remarks from several venerable admirers. David Lee produced another play like this on Tuesday night for the Boston Celtics.

NOTES: Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said he apologized to referee Ben Taylor for making contact with him while protesting a noncall Saturday in a loss to Cleveland. Green eventually finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots.

“I think we competed for longer and better, and our focus and attention to detail was closer to where we needed to be”, Budenholzer said.

Bradley had 19 points in the first half, but the other Celtics starters combined to shoot just 4 for 19. Atlanta managed to hold off a small charge from Boston, and in the latter stages of the half, the Hawks stretched the lead to 57-48 (on the strength of 58% shooting) despite committing 12 turnovers before the break.

The Boston Celtics, coming off a loss to the Brooklyn Nets, will look to get back in form against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.

Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens so rarely loses his composure that it’s sometimes hard to tell when he’s truly agitated.

“We had this coming”, he said. “There’s a lot of great players in this league and a lot of great teams – nobody’s accomplished what this team has tonight”. “Thank you so much”. “The best way we will be able to recognize it is if we guard somebody for once”.

The Timberwolves matched a season-high with nine 3-pointers. He’s expected to be out the next two weeks. Atlanta G Kent Bazemore (right ankle sprain) and F/C Tiago Splitter (right hip) were both ruled out for Wednesday’s game.

ATLANTA-On a night when Dikembe Mutombo’s number was retired, National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver was in the crowd, and the Celtics made their first appearance on TNT in three seasons, they were not quite ready for the spotlight. He is the fourth player with a retired jersey, joining Bob Pettit, Lou Hudson and Dominique Wilkins. Former owner Ted Turner also has a banner hanging at Philips Arena.