STARTERS
Teague ----------> Bradley
D Harris ----------> C. Lee
Smoove -----------> Pierce
'Boss' Horford ----------> Bass
Johan Petro --------> Garnett
BOSTON – The Hawks will be short two big men tonight versus the Celtics meaning Johan Petro will get his first start of the season.
Zaza Pachulia (right Achilles) missed this third straight game with a reoccurrence of the ailment. He did not travel with the team. Also, Ivan Johnson (personal reasons) did not travel to Boston. Their status for Saturday’s game against the Nets is uncertain.
“It certainly changes our rotations,” coach Larry Drew said. “Down a big man chances are we’ll be playing smaller a lot. We’ll just have to keep a close eye on certain matchups. I’m going to have to use guys a little bit differently than I have all year because we are shorthanded with the big men. We’ll adapt.”
Despite the missing big men, the Hawks will start Petro in an attempt to match size with the Celtics. Petro was effective against the Lakers Sunday when he had six points, eight rebounds, four steals, two blocks and one assist in 24 minutes.
