Pritchard erupts for 36 as Celtics hold off Hawks in Boston

Pritchard keeps Boston afloat, then closes the door

Payton Pritchard spends the night looking like the most dangerous guard on the floor, and Boston needs every one of his 36 points to shake off Atlanta’s early punch and walk away with a 109-102 win. The Hawks come out first with the force: Nickeil Alexander-Walker splashes a 27-foot three to help fuel a 9-0 spurt that turns a 7-7 game into a 16-7 Atlanta lead, and before the first quarter is over the Hawks have built their biggest cushion of the night at 16. Boston never panics, though. Pritchard answers with a step-back jumper in the middle of a 10-0 run that trims the deficit from 25-9 to 25-19, and that sequence starts the long climb back.

Atlanta still carries the first-half edge, but Boston keeps nibbling. The Celtics chip into the margin with a 10-0 burst of their own in the second quarter, and Sam Hauser’s 12-foot pullup jumper caps the tie at 37-37. That’s the tone of the game for long stretches: Atlanta gets a little separation, Boston answers, and the lead keeps changing hands. The Hawks are getting strong nights from Jalen Johnson and CJ McCollum, and Johnson in particular is a constant problem, finishing with 29 points, six rebounds and six assists while knocking down five triples. He’s aggressive off the dribble, confident from deep, and part of the reason Atlanta keeps the pressure on Boston even after the Celtics settle in.

Then Boston flips the game in the third. With the score tight at 69-70, Luke Garza drills a 26-foot three to spark a 10-0 Celtics run that swings the game from a one-point deficit to a 78-72 lead. That’s the turning point. Suddenly Boston’s spacing starts to stretch Atlanta, and Pritchard is right in the middle of the action, scoring from the midrange and from deep while making Atlanta pay for every late closeout. Jayson Tatum doesn’t dominate the shot volume, but he steadies everything with 26 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, giving Boston a second star-level presence whenever Atlanta threatens to string stops together. By the end of the third, the Celtics have turned a trailing position into an 87-82 lead and, for the first time all night, the building feels like it belongs to them.

The fourth quarter turns into a possession game, with Atlanta repeatedly trying to jab back into striking distance. D. Daniels comes up with a steal at 3:40 to keep the Hawks alive, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker answers with a 9-foot driving floater at 2:39, cutting the Celtics’ cushion to 103-99. But Boston never fully gives it back. Pritchard keeps finding clean looks, keeps bending the defense, and keeps Atlanta from landing the one run it needs. When O. Okongwu tips in a layup with 49.5 seconds left, the Hawks are still hanging around at 107-101, but the earlier Celtics surge has already done the damage. Boston manages the final possessions with just enough calm to finish the job.

This is the kind of win that matters in the standings and in the locker room. Boston doesn’t blow Atlanta away; it wins by answering a big deficit, surviving a night when the Hawks’ offense had real bite, and leaning on shot-making from Pritchard, Tatum, and the bench to close. For Atlanta, the loss will sting because the ingredients were there — a 16-point first-half lead, efficient scoring from Johnson and Alexander-Walker, and enough lead changes to keep the game within reach — but the Hawks couldn’t protect the edge when Boston’s runs hit. For the Celtics, it’s another reminder that when Pritchard is this hot and Tatum controls the glass, they can weather almost anything. That matters with the playoff race tightening and every home win carrying extra weight.