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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.

Jamaaliver wrote: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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