Remember when the Celtics opened up with a 17-0 lead last Saturday before shellacking Chicago for 48 minutes? Well, they almost did it again Friday night against Atlanta.
This time around, Boston opened up with a 17-3 lead over the visiting Hawks, and they ran away with a convincing 129-108 victory.
There were two keys to the run: defense and 3-point shooting.
Boston defended the ball at an incredibly high level, forcing nine turnovers during the first period alone. Those nine turnovers turned into 20 Celtics points. To put that into context, Boston entered the game averaging 18.