Game Thread: Hawks return home to face well rested Celtics

[Jamaaliver]

Matchup Preview: Celtics (46-21) at Hawks (33-33)



The 46-21 Boston Celtics make the trip south to Georgia’s State Farm Arena to face the 33-33 Atlanta Hawks. Both ball clubs are hoping to string together multiple wins after emerging from recent skids, with the Hawks trying to mesh under new head coach Quin Snyder as the Celtics hope to exorcise the emergence of some familiar bad habits.

Coming off their first win in the last 4 games, the Celtics will be without starting center Robert Williams, who has missed most of the last week with a strained left hamstring. Even though the Hawks are struggling in their own right, being .500 for the season as well as 5-5 in their last 10, the Celtics have recently struggled to play with high effort against worse teams. This cannot be the case any longer, and it is time for the Celtics to kick it into high gear and punch the Hawks in the mouth.

Keys to the Game
Even though the Hawks are one of the lesser teams in the East, they play hard and they get boards. Their starting center, Clint Capela, averages 4.2 offensive rebounds a game this season, which is second only to Grizzlies big man Steven Adams with 5.1. Therefore, in order to beat this team without Rob Williams, the Celtics need to rebound by committee. Star players Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have done a great job snagging boards this season, with them averaging 8.8 and 7.0 rebounds a game respectively. However, if Rob isn't able to play on Saturday, his 8.6 rebounds in only 24.2 minutes a game this season are going to be dearly missed. Therefore, it is up to everyone on the team, top to bottom, to fight for rebounds and refuse to give up any second chance points.

Celtics Life

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[Jamaaliver]

No Bogdan and possibly no DeAndre.

Sounds like a great opportunity for AJ Griffin to shine.

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[jayu70]

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[D21]

Trailing by 10pts at the half

Main thing is:
-21pts with Capela in 10min, even with his perfect 8pts at 4/4
+10pts with Okongwu in 14min

This exactly Vs this kind of team that I would like to have at least one C able to shoot some 3s and spreading the floor for the other players.

[Jamaaliver]

Tired legs clearly a factor in the 3rd game in 4 nights for Atlanta.

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[Jamaaliver]

Halftime stats:

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[Jamaaliver]

Finally some fire from the Hawks!!!

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[Jamaaliver]

An impressive effort. Good game plan. Nice adjustments.

Encouraging play for a tired team against a well rested, superior opponent.

I'm really impressed by Quin thus far.

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[jayu70]

Too many made es by Boston to overcome plus a dismal 2nd quarter. Love the fight.

[Jamaaliver]

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[jayu70]

Defensive miscues and lack of communication.

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[jayu70]

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[HMFFL]

An impressive effort. Good game plan. Nice adjustments.

Encouraging play for a tired team against a well rested, superior opponent.

I'm really impressed by Quin thus far.

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I agree.
Solid game for our Hawks since it was a back to back. Boston having two days off before yesterday.

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[D21]

Agree too, I didn't expect them to win this one because playing on of the top team with 3 days to get fresh while you played the night before is just one of the hardest thing they can face

I'm more disappointed to see two Western teams being beaten by BKN by one possession, which doesn't help us at all to reach the Eastern Top 6

[jayu70]

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[HMFFL]

Smart was fined $25k

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