“Boston led by Al Horford advances to the NBA semifinals with win over Atlanta Hawks”

BOSTON.- Dominican Al Horford hit a huge 3-pointer against his former team and the Boston Celtics opened a close game in the final minutes to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 128-120 and win 4-2 in the first round playoff series .

The second-seeded Celtics advance to face the third-seeded Philadelphia Sixers, who have been bye since completing their four-game sweep of Brooklyn last Saturday.

Game 1 is Monday night in Boston.

Boston put together an 11-0 run that included three straight 3-pointers, with Horford’s big shot interspersed around 3-pointers by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Tatum capped the streak with a dunk, giving the Celtics a 121-113 lead with 2:07 left.

Brown led the Celtics with 32 points while Tatum had 30. Horford, who played in Atlanta from 2007-16, had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

After leading the Hawks to an improbable victory in Game 5 in Boston, Atlanta’s Trae Young ran out of steam in the second half. He missed 12 of 13 shots in the last two quarters.

Young had 30 points and 10 assists, but finished just 9 of 28 from the field.

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