Hawks hold Celtics to seven points in first quarter and take 2-0 lead

The Hawks held the Boston Celtics to the lowest-scoring first quarter in the playoffs since the NBA went to the shot clock, building a 21-point lead and holding on despite an ugly shooting performance of their own for an 89-72 victory Tuesday night, giving Atlanta a 2-0 lead in the opening-round series.

Al Horford and Kyle Korver led Atlanta with 17 points apiece, but this game was essentially decided in the first 12 minutes.

The Hawks started out making nine of 13 from the field, knocking down six from beyond the three-point arc. Korver made four from long range, a big turnaround from a one-of-10 performance in Game 1.

Atlanta led 24-3 just 6 1/2 minutes into the game. Even after failing to score the rest of the period, the Hawks still led 24-7 heading to the second.

The Hawks also wound up blocking 17 shots.

According to STATS, the previous record for fewest points in an opening quarter during the shot-clock era was eight, initially set by Utah in a 1988 game against the Lakers and matched by Dallas in a 2010 game at San Antonio.

It was also Boston’s lowest-scoring playoff quarter since the NBA was founded in 1949. The team made one playoff appearance in the league’s predecessor, the Basketball Assn. of America, but records from that series were not available.

The Hawks matched their franchise record for the fewest points allowed in any playoff quarter. They also surrendered seven in the fourth period of a 90-64 win over the Miami Heat in 2009.

at San Antonio 94, Memphis 68: The Grizzlies didn’t have a much better start than the Celtics, scoring only 11 points in the first quarter and shooting 32.6% overall as the Spurs took a 2-0 series lead.

Patty Mills had 16 points, Kawhi Leonard added 13 and the Spurs never trailed.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 10 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes. Aldridge sat out the entire fourth quarter along with Leonard and Tony Parker, while Tim Duncan and Danny Green made brief appearances.

If history and Memphis’ current state are any indication, the Grizzlies’ prospects don’t look good heading into a home game Friday night.

San Antonio’s suffocating defense held Memphis to franchise lows in total points and points in a quarter 12 years to the day after establishing those records on its way to a series sweep.

Tony Allen led Memphis with 12 points and Zach Randolph had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Duncan finished with three points in 26 minutes. He missed his only shot from the field, making it the first time in 243 playoff games that he didn’t make a field goal.