ATLANTA — Kyle Korver broke out of a shooting slump and buried the banged-up Boston Celtics with a barrage of first-half 3-pointers as the Atlanta Hawks moved on to an 89-72 win in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series at Philips Arena on Tuesday night.
Korver hit five 3-pointers — four duringthe first seven minutes of the game — to put the Celtics in another big early hole. He entered the game having made only three of his last 19 3-point attempts, including an 0-for-7 performance in Game 1.
Atlanta led by as many as 21 in the first half Tuesday. The Hawks built a 19-point lead in the first half of Game 1 before fending off a Celtics rally in a one-point win. There was no serious rally in Game 2.
Atlanta’s Al Horford scored 17 points and blocked five shots and Jeff Teague scored 13 points and had six assists.
The series shifts to Boston on Friday with the Hawks leading 2-0.
The Celtics were without their best two-way player in Avery Bradley, who injured his hamstring in Game 1 and is expected to miss the rest of the series. Marcus Smart started in place of Bradley and struggled. The second-year guard didn’t score until the fourth quarter and finished with three points on 1-for-11 shooting.
Boston point guard Isaiah Thomas, who scored 27 points in Game 1, finished with only 16 Tuesday, half of those points coming in the fourth quarter after the game was out of reach.
Amir Johnson added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Celtics.
Atlanta jumped out to a 24-3 lead that featured four Korver 3-pointers in the first seven minutes. Boston shot 13.6 percent from the floor in the first quarter and finished with seven points, the lowest-scoring quarter in the franchise’s playoff history.
Atlanta cooled off in an ugly second quarter, allowing Boston to chip away at the lead. The Celtics got within 36-26 on a Johnson bucket but Korver answered with another 3-pointer and Boston went scoreless in the final five minutes of the half as the Hawks took a 43-28 lead into intermission.
Other than Atlanta’s sizzling start, the game was sloppy, bordering on hard to watch at times. Each team turned it over 10 times in the second quarter. The Hawks went ice-cold from the floor, connecting on 13 of 43 field goals in the second and third quarters.
With eight minutes to play, Atlanta starting forwards Paul Millsap and Kent Bazemore were a combined 3 of 24 from the field — and the Hawks still led by 19 after veteran Thabo Sefolosha hit a corner 3-pointer that put Atlanta up 72-53 with seven minutes left. The Hawks shot only 39 percent for the game, but connected on 11 3-pointers.
The Celtics were dismal and looked dejected down the stretch. Coach Brad Stevens sat stoically on the bench, his chin rested in his hand, watching his team shoot 31.8 percent from the floor, including 5 of 28 on 3-pointers.
Curry’s MRI results show nothing of concern
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry underwent an MRI exam on his injured right ankle on Tuesday and is listed as questionable for Thursday’s Game 3 against the Houston Rockets.
The Warriors said via statement that the MRI “did not reveal anything of concern.” The club said Curry would continue to receive treatment leading up to Thursday’s game in Houston.
Curry tweaked the ankle in Game 1 and sat out Monday’s Game. The Warriors won both games to take a 2-0 series lead.
Curry didn’t participate in the shootaround before Game 2 so his absence wasn’t a surprise.
“It’s the back of his foot,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters after Game 2. “It’s underneath the ankle. It’s something down there.”
Kerr said the decision on whether to play Curry won’t be affected by the team’s advantage in the series against Houston.