Isaiah Thomas scores 42, lifts Celtics over Hawks 111-103 in Game 3

Atlanta Hawks' Dennis Schroeder, left, is pulled away from a scuffle with Boston Celtics' Isaiah Thomas by Paul Millsap and teammates during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Friday, April 22, 2016, in Boston. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal Constitution via AP)
Atlanta Hawks' Dennis Schroeder, left, is pulled away from a scuffle with Boston Celtics' Isaiah Thomas by Paul Millsap and teammates during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Friday, April 22, 2016, in Boston. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal Constitution via AP)

BOSTON (AP) - Isaiah Thomas scored a career-high 42 points, and the Boston Celtics held on to beat the Atlanta Hawks 111-103 on Friday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference first-round series.

Evan Turner, inserted into the starting lineup, had 17 points and seven assists. Amir Johnson added 15 points and seven rebounds as the Celtics closed to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Playing by far their best first half of the series, Boston led by as many as 20 points before seeing that mostly erased by a 12-0 run by the Hawks in the third quarter.

The Celtics then survived a frenetic fourth quarter that featured three ties and a pair of lead changes, finally getting separation with five straight points for a 104-98 lead.

Jeff Teague had 23 points for Atlanta. Kent Bazemore and Dennis Schroder each finished with 20.

Game 4 is Sunday in Boston.

In an effort to find some early energy following lethargic opening quarters in both Game 1 and 2, Celtics coach Brad Stevens tweaked his lineup Friday.

He started Turner in place of Marcus Smart, and Jonas Jerebko got the nod over Jared Sullinger.

It meant the Celtics were a much smaller team, but it also translated into a group that was a lot quicker and active in transition.

That showed early with the first points of the game coming via Jerebko on a tip-dunk off Thomas' missed layup. Boston used the jolt to build its double-digit first-half lead.

The Hawks whittled away at it with a balanced attack, but still shot just 12 percent from the 3-point line in the opening 24 minutes.

Along with the quickened offensive pace, tempers were tweaked times.

Most notably, Thomas and Schroder were issued double technical fouls following a brief face-to-face moment. Thomas had to be restrained by Sullinger.

Sullinger was called for a flagrant foul on Schroder later in the period. That was almost immediately followed by a flagrant foul on the other end by Paul Millsap on Sullinger.

Then, early in the fourth quarter, Schroder was issued a flagrant for a foul on Thomas.

TIP-INS

Hawks: Schroder had his highest-scoring playoff game. ... Atlanta was just 2 for 17 from the 3-point line in the first half.

Celtics: Boston's 57 points in the first half total eclipsed their first-half totals for both Game 1 (34) and Game 2 (28).

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