Hawks Lose Close One to Celtics, 109-102

0:00It's March 28th. This is Boston Celtics News Today, driven by AI your team, nonstop. The Atlanta Hawks dropped a close one to the Boston Celtics Friday night, losing 109-102 at TD Garden. Jalen Johnson led Atlanta with 29 points, CJ McCollum chipped in 21. For Boston, missing Jalen Brown, Peyden Pritchard exploded for 36 points while Jason Tatum added 26. Hawks came out hot, jumping to a 25-9 lead in the first quarter behind Johnson's 12 early points. But Boston flipped the script with a key 90 run, then dominated the third outscoring Atlanta 32-22 as Pritchard dropped, 13 in that frame alone. Postgame, Johnson talked shot selection and things out of their control, hinting at late calls that hurt the comeback. Coach Quinn Snyder praised the fight, but pointed to 39 percent field goal shooting and some breakdowns in spacing as the real killers. Defense held up solid, holding Celtics to 35 percent from 3.

1:02Digging deeper, Atlanta's 2 hooked on McCollum late, he went 8 of 20 overall, while bench guys like Jonathan Kaminga bricked key looks. Dyson Daniels got played off the perimeter with low usage. Still, a solid test against playoff caliber foes, even shorthanded. Hawks sit at 41 and 33 now, hosting the Sacramento Kings tonight as heavy favorites. They grab valuable lessons to sharpen that edge, heading into the postseason push.