NBA 2018-19: 3 Talking points from the Boston Celtics Win Over the Atlanta Hawks

The Celtics led by Kyrie Irving, coasted through this one at the TD Garden, handing the visiting Hawks an emphatic 129-108 loss. This was the eighth straight win for Boston as they now ride the longest winning streak in the NBA.

The Hawks, on the other hand, have now lost seven out of their last 10 matchups and drop to a miserable 6-22 (second worst in the Eastern Conference) record. They are currently an insurmountable 15.5 games behind the East-leading Raptors.

Boston sure doesn't look like the team now that dropped home games against the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks in the first six weeks of the season.

They have had nearly four blowout wins in the past two weeks, including the 56-point beatdown of the lowly Chicago Bulls.

The Celtics are steadily rising up the East leaderboard, currently sitting at the 4th spot below the Raptors, Bucks and Pacers, with an 18-10 win-loss record.

Let's draw some key takeaways from this dominating home win by the Celtics over the ordinary Hawks.

#1 Trae Young shot a miserable 2-11 from the field

Trey Young was traded by the Mavericks to the Hawks during the 2018 draft

Trae Young's three-point shooting hasn't exactly mesmerized lately, as it did to begin the season.

His shooting percentage from the deep has dropped to an abysmal 23.7%, which is so unlike the fifth overall pick of this year's NBA draft.

He is averaging an optimum 15.5 points per game in his rookie season but is struggling shooting from the floor, hosting an FG conversion rate of approximately 38%.

For this game, in particular, he continued his dull shooting from the distance, attempting six three-pointers and making none. He could never draw contact enough to take him to the free-throw line and finished the game with a meager total of 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.

This was the second time in five games that he had scored just 9 points, the previous one coming against the Nuggets, another great defending team.

#2 Kyrie Irving carried over from where he left off in the previous game against the Wizards

Kyrie is averaging a career-high 6.3 assists per game this season.

Irving had just dropped 38 points against the Wizards in the game preceding this one, en route to helping his team clinch an overtime thriller. His focus was undeterred when the Hawks came visiting.

Kyrie dropped 24 points in just three quarters and rested for the final period of the game as the bench took care of business.

He also had five assists, five rebounds, and four steals while he scored 12 points in the first quarter itself helping set up a 42-19 cushion.

Uncle Drew is shooting a magnificent 40% from the distance this season and he continued to display his three-point prowess from deep when shot an impressive 4-5 against the Hawks.

The Celtics recorded 15 steals and 9 blocks, and according to Irving, good defence is what leads to great offence,

"We're just pushing the pace," said Irving. "I think our identity is on the defensive end. We just try to pressure them and use that to our advantage and create opportunities on the offensive end."

#3 The Celtics bench played far better than that of the Hawks on the given night

The bench, as a whole, added 58 points while the starters sat for the most part of the last period

All the players on the roster (except Marcus Smart who scored 0 points in 27 minutes) contributed to the winning cause for the Celtics. The bench, as a whole, added 58 points while the starters sat for the most part of the last period.

Hayward had missed the past two games due to illness, but he returned to score 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 on three-pointers in just 18 minutes of playtime.

On a night when the Celtics were without veteran Al Horford, Daniel Theis scored 18 points with seven rebounds off the bench, shooting 6-of-9 from the floor.

"We've been playing well over the past couple of games, just coming out with some pace and some attitude and just setting the tempo," said Morris, who made six of Boston's 19 3-pointers.