Isaiah Thomas Scores 42, Leads Celtics Past Hawks In Game 3 Thriller

On a night with lots of physical play both ways, the smallest man on the floor proved to be the difference in the game. 

Isaiah Thomas led all scorers with 42 points, and the Boston Celtics did just enough down the stretch to hold off the Atlanta Hawks on their home floor, winning 111-103. 

Down 2-0 heading back to the TD Garden, the Celtics came out firing on all cylinders, scoring 37 points in the first quarter. They maintained a double-digit advantage heading into the half, but the Hawks came back to tie it in a chippy third quarter. Brad Stevens' ball club lost its lead in the fourth, but Thomas would not be denied in crunch time, dropping in a dagger 3-pointer with less than two minutes to go to put his team up for good.

Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 23 points, while backup point guard Dennis Schroder -- who got into it with Thomas on multiple occasions -- had 20 points off the Hawks bench. Kent Bazemore also had 20 for Atlanta, while Kyle Korver chipped in 17. All-Star big men Paul Millsap and Al Horford were both held in check, scoring just eight points apiece. 

Evan Turner had 17 points, seven rebounds and five steals for Boston. Marcus Smart also pitched in 11 points, five assists, three rebounds and two blocks off the Celtics bench, including a huge rejection on Horford with three minutes left in the fourth. 

Both teams will remain in Boston for Game 4, with the Celtics looking to even the series at 2-2.