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[FLCeltsFan]

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Boston Celtics (23-2) at Atlanta Hawks (15-9)
Wednesday, December 17
7:00 PM
Game #26, Road Game #11
TV:   ESPN, SportsSouthHD, CSNHD
Phillips Arena



Probable Starters
  PG  Rajon Rondo  PPG 10.9 RPG 5.00 APG 7.4

  SG Ray Allen  PPG 18.6 RPG 3.50 APG 2.5

  SF  PPG 18.6 RPG 6.00 APG 3.8 

  PF Kevin Garnett  PPG 16.4 RPG 9.60 APG 2.5 

  C Kendrick Perkins PPG 8.4 RPG 8.30  BLk 1.7

Reserves
Reserves
Tony Allen
Glen Davis
Eddie House
Leon Powe
Gabe Pruitt
Brian Scalabrine
Patrick O'Bryant
Sam Cassell

Injuries:
Paul Pierce (knee) probable
Eddie House (death in family) probable





Probable Starters
  PG Mike Bibby PPG 16.0 RPG 3.30 APG 5.0

  SG Joe Johnson  PPG 23.1 RPG 4.50 APG 5.4 

  SF  Marvin Williams  PPG 13.2 RPG 5.90 APG 1.7 

  PF Josh Smith   PPG 12.5 RPG 7.60 APG 2.6 

C  Al Horford  PPG 11.1 RPG 8.40 APG 2.5

Reserves
Acie Law
Solomon Jones
Maurice Evans
Flip Murray
Othello Hunter
Randolph Morris
Mario West
Speedy Claxton
Thomas Gardner
Zaza Pachulia

Injuries
Speedy Claxton (knee) out

Key Matchups
  vs 
   After a matchup with Chris Paul followed by one with Deron Williams,  now, Rondo will face an old foe in Mike Bibby.  Bibby was very vocal about the Celtics fans during the playoffs, calling them bandwagon fans.  Rondo will need to continue to be aggressive, taking the ball at Bibby every chance he gets. 

  vs 
Joe Johnson would love to take it to his former team.  He can put up points in a hurry and Ray Allen will need to work on defense to try to keep Johnson from going off.  Johnson had 28 points and 7 assists in their last meeting. 

Honorable Mention
Kevin Garnett vs Josh Smith
Smith was out when the Celtics played the Hawks earlier this season.   Smith has played very well against the Celtics in the past.  He is always a tough matchup for the Celtics. 


Game Notes
The Hawks took the Celtics to 7 games in the first round of the playoffs, surprising many fans on both sides.  In the first matchup between these two teams, the Celtics barely squeaked by the Hawks with a 103-102 win in the Garden but it took Paul Pierce coming out of the booth as Superman and hitting a fallaway jumper with 0.5 seconds left to win the game. 

In their first meeting, the Hawks were playing in the second of back to back games and they were playing without Josh Smith and yet the Celtics barely beat them.  The Celtics are going to have to pick up their game in order to beat the Hawks in Atlanta since they struggled there in the playoffs and the matchups between these two teams seem to give the Celtics problems. 

Team Connections:
Doc Rivers played for the Hawks from '83-'91 and holds the Hawks' record for assists with 3866
Celtics' assistant Armond Hill played for the Hawks '76-80 and '83-'84
Rajon Rondo and Josh Smith were teammates at Oak Hill Academy
Joe Johnson was drafted by the Celtics with the 10th pick in the 2001 draft
Mike Bibby and Eddie House are brothers in law
Rajon Rondo and Randolph Morris were teammates at Kentucky
Al Horford and Big Baby Davis played against each other in the 2006 Final Four
Hawks Assistant Alton Lister played for the Celtics from '95-'97
Mo Evans and KG were teammates in Minnesota

[Amager Celtic Fan]

As always...

for FL!

[Celtic]

16 in a row, here we go!

[JR34]

I'll be at this game wearing a green Garnett shirt.
Look for me amongst the Hawks season ticket holders in the sixth row of the middle sideline section.

[steved24]

I'll be at this game wearing a green Garnett shirt.
Look for me amongst the Hawks season ticket holders in the sixth row of the middle sideline section.

You're a brave man. TP for you! 

[steved24]

as much as I should be worried about this game. I'm confident our guys will take care of business. and The Gentleman will destroy Horford down low

[Amager Celtic Fan]

I'll be at this game wearing a green Garnett shirt.
Look for me amongst the Hawks season ticket holders in the sixth row of the middle sideline section.

That's 1 post, 2 TP's 
Enjoy the game, Sir and
remember to cheer a little
for the rest of us at CB!

[FLCeltsFan]

TP from me as well JR34.  It's a brave thing that you do!  Enjoy the game and cheer a little for me as well!

[FLCeltsFan]

As Always, ACF, thank you for the TP. 

[JR34]

Thanks for the TPs in my debut, I'll make sure to yell extra loud for the fans here on CBlog.

It may be selfish of me, but I really hope Pierce plays tonight even if his knee is a little sore. I've been a PP fan since he played for Kansas (where I live), and this will (hopefully) be my first time seeing him play in green!

I've seen the Hawks play five times in the past couple of seasons (my parents live in ATL), and they lost every game, so hopefully that streak continues.

[Amager Celtic Fan]

As Always, ACF, thank you for the TP. 

And as always, you're very welcome 

[steved24]

I'm getting really sick of these Hawks fans calling this a rivalry. Rivalries are made in the Finals!

[Edgar]

Lets go Cs
Make it 16
destroy those rival wannabes

[ma11l]

I expect the Celts to be up to the challenge and the hype in this one.  It won't be easy, it wasn't at home when they didn't have Smith.  However I still expect a 6-10 point victory.


The key for me is Rondo getting after Bibby on both ends.  If he can limit his offense it will hurt them a lot, also he has the clear quickness advantage so if he is aggressive he should be able to take it to him when we have the ball.  We know how good this team can be when he does that.

[steved24]

Did Bill Walton really just pick the Hawks to beat us tonight? Wow Walton.. wow.. If the Hawks beat us. We're never going to hear the end of it.