Hawks let Game 4 and series control slip away

12:09 AM ET

BOSTON –- Jeff Teague sat slumped in his chair as he iced his knee, the salty look on his face saying all you needed to know about the state of the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night.

In the middle of delivering terse answers shorter than Isaiah Thomas’ stature, Teague sat in his chair as a few tense seconds passed between questions from reporters. One Hawk seated nearby briefly broke the tension by sarcastically blurting, “Awwwwkward.”

The same could be said about the Hawks’ situation at the moment. They came to Boston brimming with confidence up 2-0 in this best-of-seven series. They leave with the series completely up for grabs at 2-2 after undermanned but resilient Boston defended home court with true Celtics pride and pulled out Game 4, 104-95, in overtime.

But truth be told, the Hawks have every reason to believe that they let these two games slip away. They had a chance to steal Game 3 after erasing a 19-point lead in the third quarter, only to see some poor execution in the last few minutes and a career night from Thomas keep the Celtics alive. Then came Sunday night.

Paul Millsap did something no Hawk has done since Mr. Hawk himself, Dominique Wilkins, unforgettably poured 47 points in Game 7 at the old Boston Garden in the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals. Millsap came into this game having scored a combined 12 points in the previous two games before turning in the night of his pro life with 45 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.

“Millsap was awesome,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens later marveled.

Paul Millsap had 45 points and 13 rebounds Sunday, but the Hawks weren’t able to feed him in overtime of their Game 4 loss. Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

So while Boston fans were fixated on booing Dennis Schroder -– who complained about Thomas hitting him in the face in Game 3 — each time he touched the ball, Millsap was busy silencing the hostile crowd by burying floaters, 3-pointers, step-back shots and muscling a few shots in while being fouled.

The …

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