Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics (-3, 200.5)Hawks lead series 2-0If the Boston Celtics hope to stay in their first-round series for more than two more games, they are going to need to solve the Atlanta Hawks’ stifling defense.
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The Atlanta Hawks took a commanding 2-0 playoff series lead over the Boston Celtics and it all started with defense. If Game 5 is necessary in the Cleveland-Detroit and Atlanta-Boston series but not necessary in the San Antonio-Memphis series, Pacers-Raptors begins at 7 p.m. on NBA TV.In the postseason, Al Horford leads in three major statistical categories: points (20.5), rebounds (8.5) and blocks (3.5).They would rather have him, of course, but the defending champions have believed in their depth all along. The Hawks have history on their side as they are undefeated in five games when coming into a playoff series leading 2-0.
The Celtics conjured an inspiring comeback that fell just short in Game 1, but there’s one stat that provides an indication as to how lopsided the first two games have been as a whole. Thier seven points in the first 12 minutes are the fewest points scored in any quarter of a playoff game in the shot clock era.
“The frustrating part isn’t necessarily that it’s happened for five straight games; the frustrating part is it’s happened the last two”.
But in Game 2, they went an abysmal 5-for-28 from three-point range, including Thomas, Smart, Turner and Crowder going a combined 2-for-18.
Speaking of mobile bigs from Atlanta, Paul Millsap was just downright fantastic tonight. Two of the Celtics’ best shooters, Kelly Olynyk and Avery Bradley, are dealing with injuries. Thomas is the Celtics’ best offensive player and led the team on that end all season, but he has struggled out of the gate in the playoffs. The series will shift back to Atlanta on Tuesday for Game 5 and return to Boston on Thursday for Game 6, if necessary.
“I think (Stevens) will make some type of change, knowing Brad”, Thomas said on the conference call.
Still, the Hawks couldn’t quite put the Celtics away until the final minutes of the fourth quarter, which is why it’s hard to wrap this effort in golden robes of greatness. “I want to play 40-45 minutes and swing every second we can”.
The other thing I’d change is playing Isaiah Thomas off the ball more. “Going into Game 3 where you gotta win, I wouldn’t be surprised if he switched stuff up”, said Sullinger.
Heading back to Boston for Game 3, the Celtics should not be counted out just yet. While that would usually seem like a ideal opportunity for the Celtics to get back in the game, they unfortunately failed to capitalize. Kyle, obviously, with the big first quarter. “We’ve got to do something to try to switch this up at home next game”. It just takes time with hamstrings, so like I said earlier, he’s definitely out this weekend and I would say that he’s very unlikely to play in this series. Things would go from bad to worse for the Boston Celtics.
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Atlanta may have to overcome a key injury of its own after backup point guard Dennis Schroder suffered a left ankle injury in the closing minutes of Game 2. “At times we’re getting those and making them, and at times we’re getting them and not – and at times we’re not getting them”. We have to play more consistently throughout the game than we’ve played. “It doesn’t matter where we play, we’ve just got to play better”, Barnes told reporters.
