If the Celtics’ (29-18) first meeting with the Hawks (24-25) this month felt like a controlled demolition, Wednesday night at TD Garden was the uncomfortable reminder that margins still matter - especially when they disappear in the opening 12 minutes.

Boston never fully recovered from a brutal first quarter, falling 117-106 in a rematch that swung sharply in Atlanta’s favor.

After detonating the Hawks in Atlanta earlier this month, the Celtics found themselves on the wrong end of a hot-shooting ambush, digging a 20-point hole before they had even settled into the game.

Atlanta blitzed Boston early, knocking down 7 of its first 12 three-point attempts while the Celtics stumbled through a 30% shooting quarter that immediately tilted the floor.

To Boston’s credit, the response over the final three frames was more competitive - but it was never threatening. The Hawks’ offense stayed organized, confident, and efficient, and the Celtics never got closer than nine the rest of the way.

Six Hawks reached double figures, led by Jalen Johnson’s 19-point, 14-rebound night, while Jaylen Brown paced Boston with 21 points on an uneven offensive evening.

The loss dropped the Celtics to 1-1 on their four-game homestand, with Sacramento (12-36) up next on Friday.

Here’s four takeaways from Wednesday night’s loss:

This was one of those nights where the Celtics simply couldn’t bend the math back in their favor.

Boston finished just 9 of 34 from three (26%), well below both their season average in efficiency and volume.

Atlanta, meanwhile, doubled them up in makes (18-9) and shot a clean 43% from deep, with four starters hitting multiple threes.

When Boston’s starters go 3 of 19 from beyond the arc, there’s no fallback button - especially after a disastrous opening quarter.

Boston hasn’t been living in blowouts this season, particularly at home.

This one stood out.

The Celtics trailed by double digits for nearly the entire final three-and-a-half quarters, never able to mount the kind of sustained push that usually defines their losses.

It marked their first double-digit defeat since mid-December and their worst home loss since early November - an outlier, but a notable one.

With Neemias Queta sidelined by illness, Williams got another opportunity to start - and this one was rough.

He went scoreless in the first half, struggled with turnovers, and ultimately fell out of the rotation before garbage time.

Boston was right to evaluate him, but nights like this only reinforce how thin the margin is up front, and how badly the Celtics could use another reliable big before the deadline.

Minott’s return from his ankle injury was brief but productive - 5 points in four minutes - though it didn’t signal any real rotation shift.

For now, he remains depth insurance rather than a nightly option.

This wasn’t a crisis loss, but it was a revealing one.

When Boston starts slow, loses the three-point battle, and lacks frontcourt stability, the room for correction shrinks fast - even against a familiar opponent.

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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.