Hawks down Celtics, move ten games over .500 for first time in five years

Quick stats: All five Hawks starters finished the night with double-digit scoring. Jalen Johnson had 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, while Onyeka Okongwu had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Dyson Daniels had 18 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Atlanta native and Celtics wing Jaylen Brown had 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

Key moment

Okongwu has had some shooting woes as of late, but he hasn’t let that stop him. Over his previous five games entering Monday’s matchup, he made just five of his last 16 attempts from deep.

The cold shooting plagued him in the first half of the game, where he went 0-of-4 from the perimeter.

But Okongwu found some relief when he knocked down his first 3 of the game with 8:39 remaining in the third. He then answered a 3 from Celtics center Luka Garza 30 seconds later. Later in the third, Okongwu made another, putting the Hawks up 77-68 with 5:35 to play in the quarter.

Okongwu’s flash of strong play in the third opened the game up for the Hawks.

Highlight play

Daniels has zero fear when it comes to attacking the basket, and he added to his poster collection of the season.

With 9:17 to play in the third quarter, Johnson found Daniels cutting to the basket from the free throw line. He slipped behind three Celtics defenders before Johnson threw up the alley-oop.

Then, Celtics guard Derrick White rotated in and met Daniels at the rim. But Daniels swung to the left and put White on a poster.

What they said

“I never let a few missed 3s kill my confidence. My mentality is I’m not gonna keep missing them, keep shooting. And if I do keep missing, don’t let it happen the next game. So, for me, I gotta stay confident in what I’m doing, and my teammates want me to shoot it. The coaches want me to shoot it. Hell, fans want me to shoot it, too. So it’s gotta keep my confidence everything I do.” -- Okongwu on how he felt he shot the ball Monday.

“I think I just ran hard down the floor, and I was able to outrun a few people. And I know Jalen is going to throw it, so shout out to him for putting it in the right spot. I mean, I’ve seen Derrick White on the end of a few of those this year. So, I mean, yeah, it was a good pass, and I just had to go up there and finish it.” -- Daniels on his dunk.

“I think obviously, the beginning of the season, we didn’t start off the way we wanted to at home, and I think now we’re just we’re taking pride in playing at home and taking advantage of it.” -- Johnson on the Hawks winning 13-straight games at home.

Up next

The Hawks play the Magic on Wednesday in Orlando. The Hawks already hold the head-to-head tiebreaker after winning the first three games of the season series. But Wednesday’s game could further the Hawks’ hold on seeding in the Eastern Conference.

Standings watch

The Hawks won, while the 76ers fell to the Heat. So, the Hawks gained some ground and now have the same record as the Raptors. Their win positions them to move up to the fifth seed if the Raptors fall to the Pistons on Tuesday.

The Hawks also gained a 1½-game lead on the 76ers, who remain in the seventh seed.

The Magic and the Heat remain three games behind the Hawks in the eighth and ninth seeds. The Hornets occupy the 10th seed and sit 3½ games behind the Hawks.