LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Jayson Tatum starred as the Boston Celtics took a 2-0 series lead over the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA playoffs on Tuesday, while Darius Garland delivered a 32-point gem in Cleveland’s series-leveling rout of the New York Knicks.
Tatum finished with 29 points as the second-seeded Celtics overcame a slow start to dominate the seventh-seeded Hawks for a 119-106 victory at Boston’s TD Garden.
Atlanta jumped out to a 22-11 lead in the first quarter before Boston’s offense clicked to give the Celtics a 28-25 lead heading into the second quarter.
Once in front, the Celtics never relinquished the advantage, opening up a 61-49 half-time lead and extending that to 20 points midway through the third quarter as Boston’s defense shut down Atlanta’s scoring.
Atlanta rallied to get within eight points of the Celtics in the fourth quarter, but Boston never looked like squandering their lead down the stretch and pulled away convincingly to ensure they will take a 2-0 advantage into game three in Atlanta on Friday.
Tatum finished with 29 points including five three-pointers, while Derrick White provided offensive support with 26 points and Jaylen Brown added 18 points.
Dejounte Murray led Atlanta’s scorers with 29 points while Trae Young finished with 24.
“They won, we lost — we’ve just got to be better,” Atlanta playmaker Young said after the defeat.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference playoffs on Tuesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers roared back into their best-of-seven series with the Knicks to score a 107-90 win
Beaten 101-97 in game one on Saturday, the Cavaliers bounced back in spectacular fashion to score a blowout victory.
Cleveland opened up a 25-22 first quarter lead and never looked back, outscoring Cleveland 34-17 in the second quarter to take a decisive grip on the contest.
New York failed to get within 15 points of the Cavs throughout the second half, as Cleveland powered on to lead by as many as 29 midway through the fourth quarter.
Cleveland point guard Garland produced a sparkling display with 32 points — 26 of them in a devastating first-half scoring burst.
Caris LeVert added 24 off the bench while Donovan Mitchell added 17 points with 13 assists.
The Knicks offense meanwhile failed to fire, with the team’s 90-point total their second lowest tally of the season.
Julius Randle finished with 22 points while Jalen Brunson added 20.
Game three of the series takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday.
