Thomas Scores 42, Lifts Celtics Over Hawks 111-103 in Game 3
By: AP
BOSTON (AP) — Isaiah Thomas scored a career-high 42 points, and the Boston Celtics held on to beat the Atlanta Hawks 111-103 on Friday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference first-round series.
Evan Turner, inserted into the starting lineup, had 17 points and seven assists. Amir Johnson added 15 points and seven rebounds as the Celtics closed to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Playing by far their best first half of the series, Boston led by as many as 20 points before seeing that mostly erased by a 12-0 run by the Hawks in the third quarter.
The Celtics then survived a frenetic fourth quarter that featured three ties and a pair of lead changes, finally getting separation with five straight points for a 104-98 lead.
Jeff Teague had 23 points for Atlanta. Kent Bazemore and Dennis Schroder each finished with 20.
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