ATLANTA — How do you explain this Celtics-Hawks series?
You don’t. Just roll with it, wait for the next game, and hope your team does better.
The Celtics led the Hawks by 10 points in the second quarter of a pivotal Game 5 at Philips Arena on Tuesday night. Sweet, right? On the heels of sweeping two games in Boston it looked like the Celtics might break the Hawks’ spirit, take a 3-2 series lead, and wrap things up at the Garden on Thursday.
No. The Hawks demolished the Green Team in the third quarter, ran out to a 34-point lead, and took Game 5, 110-83, to push the Celtics to the brink of elimination.
“We fell apart a little bit,’’ said Celtic owner Wyc Grousbeck.
The Celtics and Hawks are working hard and leaving it all out there on the court, but this series might set back basketball to the pre-shot clock era of the 1950s. We have two starless teams bumping into one another, with the series winner appropriately earning a four-night, all-expenses paid trip to . . . Cleveland.
Celtics-Hawks is a series of ebbs and flows. And body blows. It is a hardwood rock fight with all the artistry of a tractor pull.
The Hawks always battle the demons of being the Hawks. In franchise history they have lost 10 of 11 playoff series against the Celtics. This year they were supposed to handle the young Boston team and it looked like they were in good shape when they won the first two games at home. But we can never forget that they are forever the Hawks, always capable of blowing a series.
The Celtics, meanwhile, are supposed to be a team on the rise. We have seen them progress in this three-year regime of Brad Stevens. In their first year they returned to respectability. In their second year they made the playoffs. This year they have won two playoff games and they could still advance to the second round . . . theoretically.
It sure doesn’t feel that way now. It feels like it’s over. Making matters worse, Isaiah Thomas sprained his left ankle during garbage time of Game 5 and the Celtics already are playing without Avery Bradley (hamstring).
Stevens said Thomas has a “mild’’ ankle sprain. Thomas was seen moving gingerly around the Celtics locker room after the game.
Did the coach have any regret about having Thomas on the floor while down by 29 points early in the fourth?
Stevens (who had a sub at the table for Thomas at the time he was hurt) allowed that he believed a comeback was still possible.
“We’ve seen this team do some pretty crazy things,’’ said the coach.
Asked how his team could recover from the Game 5 beatdown, Stevens said, “This doesn’t mean anything Thursday night. But if we play like that, and they play the way they played, home court advantage won’t mean anything.’’
One needs to remember that when the Celtics walked out of this same gym last week they appeared to be a beaten team. They fell behind by big margins in each of the first two games and Game 2 was particularly demoralizing after a preposterous NBA playoff-record-low, 7-point first quarter. A Hawk sweep did not seem out of the question.
Everything changed, of course, when the series came back to Boston. Stevens inserted Jonas Jerebko into the starting lineup (benching Jared Sullinger) and started Evan Turner at the point, which freed Thomas. Inspired by the changes — and a breakout performance from Marcus Smart — the Celtics delivered a pair of pulsating victories. When the Green came back from a 16-point third quarter deficit in Game 4, the New Garden rattled all the way down to the train tracks.
The Hawks seemed similarly rattled. Jeff Teague’s mind-numbing failure to execute (after two timeouts) in the final 15 seconds of regulation was a gaffe of epic proportions. Had a Boston player blown a game in such fashion, it would have dominated all sports media for the ensuing two days. Fortunately for Teague, few folks in Atlanta care about the Hawks so there’s little pressure.
There was actually little of anything early Tuesday night. Despite a pregame video presentation that includes a voice claiming Atlanta has “the loudest fans in the NBA,’’ the New England Revolution generate more buzz in Boston than the Hawks do in Atlanta.
The first quarter of Game 5 was a rim-rattling affair. The Hawks made 3 of their first 17 shots. The Celtics made 4 of their first 17. Somewhere, Greg Kite had to be saying, “I could have done that!’’
For the second straight game, the Celtics got a lift from Smart off the bench. He hit a couple of treys, guarded center Al Horford, and somehow powered the Green to a 20-15 lead through the first 12 minutes. Atlanta had one assist in the first quarter.
Then came the streaks. Without any points from Thomas, the Celtics somehow ran out to a 10-point lead. In just a few short minutes, they were trailing by 10. Atlanta led, 47-39, at halftime. Neither team cracked 40 percent shooting in the first half. Two miles from where David Price was beating the Braves, Thomas and Horford pitched shutouts in the first 24 minutes.
Then the Hawks went on a roll in the third. They outscored the Celtics, 42-23, in the third quarter. A three by the hated Dennis Schroder made it 80-58 with 3:20 left in the third and forced a Stevens timeout. It was 89-62 after three.
“They made a lot of great shots and went on a great run,’’ said Turner. “I don’t think they missed for an hour.’’
We’ve seen some pretty good comebacks in this series, but overcoming a 20-plus second-half deficit on the road in the playoffs is simply not done.
“We have to get back to the best fans in the league for Thursday and then go from there,’’ said Grousbeck.
We know the Celtics can beat the Hawks in Boston but they are going to have to win in Atlanta on Saturday if they want to advance.
Dan Shaughnessy can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com
