Celtics defense remains comfortable making teams uncomfortable

Boston extends its season-long winning streak to eight in a row, limiting the Atlanta Hawks to just 40 points total in the second half of Sunday's game.

Atlanta’s Trae Young would drive past a Boston Celtics defender, only for a wall of Green and Black jerseys to await his arrival.

He would pass to a teammate to bail him out. But for them, more times than not, a Celtics defender would rotate quick enough to contest a shot.

The Boston Celtics pulled away for a 105-95 win over Atlanta on Saturday, extending their season-long winning streak to eight in a row.

There are those who remain skeptical about whether the success Boston (33-25) is having can be sustained.

But their defense?

It is real, people.

And it’s not just one player blocking shots or getting steals or doing the things that statistically speaking, usually signal that a team’s defense is playing at a high level.

Boston is doing what the really elite, top-shelf defenses do which is make life for their opponents as uncomfortable as possible.

The Celtics’ defensive rating this season (105.1) prior to Sunday’s game, trailed only Golden State (104.1) in the NBA.

And their secret sauce for defensive success isn’t that complicated or formulaic.

They contest shots, switch only when necessary and maybe most important, get better, more intense as the game goes on.

That’s why when Boston erased a 15-point deficit to take a double-digit lead of their own in the second half, the Hawks could never get back over the hump.

Boston kept getting stops, shots started to fall and the end result was yet another Celtics victory.

Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds from yet another Celtics victory.

STARS

Second half Jayson Tatum: The Celtics were a better team in the second half against Atlanta, and Jayson Tatum’s play had a lot to do with that. He led all scorers with 38 points, 25 of which came in the second half. Tatum also did work defensively and on the boards with 10 rebounds.

Trae Young: So much of Atlanta’s offense runs through Young who came out scoring effectively and efficiently against the Celtics. But as Boston pushed back and eventually took control of the game, Young’s offensive prowess was not enough. Still, he finished with 30 points on 9-for-26 shooting from the field to go with 10 assists and four rebounds.

STUDS

Al Horford: He’s at a point in his career where he’s not going to have many nights when he’ll put up numbers that reflect his impact on the Celtics and winning. But when you look at his defense, rebounding in limited minutes and ability to aid the team’s improved ball movement, his impact on this team is undeniable. He had eight points and six rebounds with a team-best plus/minus of plus-13.

Derrick White: The new guy came out and showed his success in his first game for the Celtics, was no fluke. White’s feel for the game in terms of being where he needs to be ON defense while finding ways to contribute as a scorer, makes him one of the low-key steals at the trade deadline. He came off the Boston bench and scored 14 points to go with five assists and four rebounds.

DUDS

Payton Pritchard: With the roster shake-up via the trade deadline, Pritchard is among the Celtics’ reserves who will get more opportunities to make plays. Pritchard went scoreless in 11 minutes on Sunday, missing all three of his field goal attempts from the field. In the two games since the trade deadline, Pritchard has missed eight of his nine shot attempts.