Celtics vs. Hawks: Game 2 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

Poor as their start was in the series opener, the Boston Celtics got off to an even worse beginning in Tuesday's Game 2 against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. Once again, they were unable to recover enough to avoid a loss.

Atlanta had a 24-7 first quarter, and cold-shooting Boston couldn't get closer than 10 points after that, as the Hawks grabbed a 2-0 series lead with an 89-72 win.

The Celtics trailed 30-19 through one quarter in Game 1, but that paled in comparison to the hole they dug themselves Tuesday.

The NBA on ESPN specified the depths of Boston's first-quarter struggles:

Invoking The Shining as a means of illustrating the cold start, the NBA on TNT tweeted a classic image:

Jay King of MassLive.com highlighted how much worse the Hawks could have made the first half for the Celtics:

CBS Sports' Doug Gottlieb implied he was getting sick as he bore witness to an awful display by Boston:

Without starting shooting guard Avery Bradley because of a hamstring strain, the Celtics offense was lost. Aside from playmaking point guard Isaiah Thomas, the visitors had a severe dearth of options for perimeter scoring.

And Thomas had an off shooting night at the most inopportune time. He and Bradley's fill-in, Marcus Smart, combined to miss 14 of their 15 first-half shots, including all six of their three-point attempts.

At halftime, Celtics personality Sean Grande provided his reaction and context for Boston's offensive futility:

After missing all seven of his three-pointers in Game 1, Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver heated up, making five of six treys in the opening half.

Synergy Sports Tech provided context for Korver's prowess:

It's a good thing Korver and Jeff Teague—who finished with 13 points and six assists—were in an early rhythm. Otherwise, Game 2 would've been even uglier than it was, as The Ringer's Jason Concepcion captured with this reaction:

Of course, Atlanta won't complain now that it has a tight grip on this opening-round postseason clash.

Not only was Boston unable to knock down shots from the perimeter—it finished 5-of-28 from downtown—but the Hawks were also stout at the rim, setting a franchise playoff record with 15 blocks.

Al Horford had five swats and matched Korver with a game-high 17 points, and Paul Millsap helped offset his 1-of-12 shooting performance with four blocks.

Nate Duncan of The Cauldron opted to give Atlanta some credit for its defense:

At least the Celtics can take solace in the fact that the series is headed to Boston and that they maintained their composure despite woeful play for much of the two games in Atlanta.

If no one emerges as a more proficient scoring option, though, the Celtics will be hard-pressed to avoid a sweep. As Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette pointed out, Boston has only overcome a 0-2 deficit once—in the 1969 NBA Finals.

The Hawks have weathered Boston's relentless defense reasonably well, but it is worth noting they managed only a 21-20 road record during the regular season. That wasn't much better than the Celtics' 20-21 mark, so Atlanta will have to prove itself away from its home court.

Based on what's happened through two games, it's hard to believe these teams had identical 48-34 records entering the playoffs.

Postgame Reaction

Atlanta head coach Mike Budenholzer didn't seem too concerned about his team's lackluster offensive execution after it jumped all over Boston in the first quarter.

"Sometimes it's kind of a mudfest after you start like that," Budenholzer said, per the Hawks' official Twitter feed.

Budenholzer also talked about what went right for Atlanta's swarming, swatting defense, per NBA TV:

"Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk—you can't underestimate how important they are to them," Budenholzer said in addressing Boston's key absences, per King.

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens noted Korver's bounce-back performance and said, per the team's official Twitter feed, "You knew coming off a 1-for-10 game that he was going to have the hunger to take shots and make shots early on."

Korver also spoke about his big outing:

"That was one team playing at a very elite level and one team not," Stevens said of the first quarter, per the Celtics.

Per King, Crowder, who missed eight of his nine field-goal attempts, said: "We've had too good a year to go out the way we've been going out these last couple of games."

"I'll go back and look at it and watch it without sound, without emotion, and see what we did right and what we didn't do right," Stevens added.