All the pressure is on Boston. The weight of the world is on their shoulders. Their whole season, all of those 66 wins, all of those past playoff failures, all of the expectations, all of the hype, all of the hope, everything .... everything is on the line
Atlanta are free as a bird. They've no burdens, no expectations. They're already a scucess. They could lose by 50 and people would still say they did great things pushing this series to seven and how brilliant a future this team has in front of them.
The Celtics' players haven't responded well to pressure in this series. Several players late in games have looked tense, looked tight, looked uncertain of themselves. If Atlanta can so much as make a run this will all flood back. They haven't handled it well yet, will they tomorrow?
Very important that Boston start well. If they let Atlanta hang around the pressure will only increase.