Celtics vs. Hawks: Game 5 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

The Atlanta Hawks scored 42 points in the third quarter of Tuesday’s game, while the Boston Celtics scored 39 in the entire first half and 44 in the entire second half. That is not exactly the formula for a road victory.

The Hawks defended home-court advantage in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against Boston with a 110-83 win to take a 3-2 lead. They are now one win away from advancing to the second round and still have the security blanket of a potential Game 7 back at home if they cannot win Game 6 on the road:

Hawks defeat the Celtics, 110-83 in Game 5Go ahead 3-2 in the series #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/EgR9vF3ovf

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 27, 2016

The difference on Tuesday was the second and third quarters, as ESPN Stats & Info illustrated:

After scoring just 15 points in the 1st quarter, the Hawks turned things up and pulled away in the middle quarters. pic.twitter.com/AWCtzQBjGE

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 27, 2016

Five different Hawks scored in double figures, but it was Mike Scott who led the way off the bench with 17 points. Kent Bazemore chipped in 16 points and connected on four of Atlanta’s 14 made three-pointers on the evening. 

Boston received 15 points and five boards from Evan Turner, but it turned the ball over 20 times and shot 29-of-77 from the field (37.7 percent) and 7-of-29 from three-point range (24.1 percent) against Atlanta’s suffocating defense.

The Hawks jumped out to a 9-7 lead in the early going, but the two teams combined to start an abysmal 5-of-23 from the field. Brian Robb of Boston.com noted it was business as usual for the Celtics on the road:

Celtics are currently shooting 20.3 percent from the field (12-of-59) in this series on the road during first quarters.

— Brian Robb (@CelticsHub) April 27, 2016

With his teammates struggling from the field, Jae Crowder made sure the ball went through the basket to spark a quick 5-0 run to give the Celtics the lead, via the team:

Jae Crowder to the rack! Catch Game 5 live, right now, on @CSNNE pic.twitter.com/hCQaMWsS7N

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 27, 2016

Boston parlayed that momentum into a 20-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. Even with the Celtics’ run, Robb said, “This game is going to be an absolute rock fight. Great defenses and plenty of bad shooting.”

That rock fight continued into the second quarter, and the Celtics built a 27-18 lead after Atlanta started …

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