Ojeleye impresses, but Prince and Hawks too much for C's

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BOSTON – Semi Ojeleye has made his mark at the defensive end of the floor this season for the Celtics. 

But as we saw in Boston’s 112-106 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, the 6-foot-7 Ojeleye can get buckets, too. 

He came off the Celtics bench to score a season-high 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field, doing his part to give the Celtics a shot at winning in the game’s closing moments. 

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens kept all his starters except Aron Baynes on the bench for the entire fourth quarter, affording players like Ojeleye a shot at getting crunch time minutes.

“That was the point of playing guys that we don’t usually play late,” Stevens said. “And I thought some guys did some really good things.”

Among them, was Ojeleye. 

“I thought Semi was obviously playing with a lot of confidence on the offensive end, which we need him to, to continue to soar with what he does best,” Stevens said. “But, you know, be able to take advantage of defenses that are really helping off of him.”

Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds from Boston’s 112-106 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. 

 

STARS

Taurean Prince: It has been a disappointing season for the Atlanta Hawks, for sure. But one of the bright spots has been the play of Prince who led all scorers with 33 points on 12-for-17 shooting along with eight rebounds and five assists. 

Jayson Tatum: Having Friday night off was a good thing for Tatum, who returned to action on Sunday looking revived on several fronts. He led the Celtics with 19 points in just three quarters of work (head coach Brad Stevens did not play his starters in the fourth quarter) on 8-for-12 shooting with four steals.

 

STUDS

Al Horford: His usually strong defense was anchored with a solid game scoring the ball. Horford tallied 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting to go with seven rebounds and four assists. 

Isaiah Taylor: He scored 13 points off the bench which included a driving lay-up with 25.6 seconds to play that put Atlanta up by four, 110-106.

Semi Ojeleye: Known primarily for his defense, Ojeleye was uber-aggressive offensively before finishing with a career-high 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting to go with six rebounds.   

Greg Monroe: Moose continues to come up big for the Celtics in terms of scoring around the rim. He had 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting in addition to four assists. 

 

DUDS

Aron Baynes: He was never able to get into any kind of rhythm, missing six of his seven shot attempts before finishing with two points and three rebounds.

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