Celtics (25-8) at Hawks (22-12) 1/8

[FLCeltsFan]

at

Boston Celtics (25-8) at Atlanta Hawks (22-12)
Friday, January 8
8:00 PM
Game #34, Road Game #19
TV:  ESPN, RTV, CSN-NE
Phillips Arena



Probable Starters
  PG  Rajon Rondo 13.5 PPG 9.6 APG 2.6 SPG

  SG Ray Allen  16.5 PPG 2.9 APG .35743 3P% 

  SF  Paul Pierce  18.1 PPG  4.7 RPG  3.8 APG

  PF Rasheed Wallace   9.6 PPG 4.5 RPG  0.8 BPG 

  C Kendrick Perkins Perkins 12.2 PPG  8.1 RPG  2.0 BPG

Reserves
Shelden Williams
Brian Scalabrine
Bill Walker
JR Giddens 
Tony Allen
Big Baby Davis 

Injuries:
Marquis Daniels (thumb) out
Kevin Garnett (knee)  out
Eddie House (flu) questionable 





Probable Starters
  PG Mike Bibby 9.6 PPG  4.3 APG   1.0SPG

  SG Joe Johnson 21.5 PPG  4.9 APG 5.9 .352 3P%   

  SF  Marvin Williams  10.2 PPG  4.9 RPG 1.2 APG

  PF Josh Smith  15.0 PPG  8.0 RPG 2.2 BPG 

C  Al Horford  13.6 PPG 9.9 RPG 1.4 BPG

Reserves
Jamal Crawford
Zaza Pachulia
Mo Evans
Jeff Teague
Joe Smith
Randolph Morris
Jason Collins

Injuries
None   

Team Connections 
Doc Rivers played for Atlanta from 1983-9
Doc also holds the Hawks record for most assists in a career as a Hawk (3,866)
Celtics Assistant Coach Armond Hill played for the Hawks from 1976-80 and also during the 1983-84 season
Rajon Rondo and Josh Smith were teammates at Oak Hill Academy
Joe Johnson was originally drafted by the Celtics with the 10th pick in the 2001 draft
Eddie House is married to Mike Bibby's sister
Rajon Rondo and Randolph Morris were teammates at Kentucky
Al Horford and Glen Davis played against each other in the 2006 Final Four
Hawks assistant coach Alton Lister played for the Celtics from
1995-97
Maurice Evans and Kevin Garnett were teammates in Minnesota during the 2001-02 season
Shelden Williams was originally drafted by the Hawks with the 5th
overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft
Jason Collins and Brian Scalabrine were teammates with the Nets from 2001-2005
Marvin Williams and Rasheed Wallace are former North Carolina Tar Heels
Shelden Williams and Jason Collins were teammates in Minnesota during the 2008-09 season.

Key Matchups
  vs 
Rajon Rondo vs Mike Bibby   
It never gets easy for  Rondo as he goes up against another solid veteran PG in Mike Bibby.  Bibby can be dangerous from the perimeter but Rondo is quicker and can get the first step on Bibby.  At least Bibby will be home and won't be booed every time he touches the ball in this game. 

  vs 
Rasheed Wallace vs Josh Smith
Smith is a very athletic and quick power forward and this will be a test of Sheed's defensive abilities.  Smith is a handful to guard and may try to either get Sheed in foul trouble early or try to get him to lose his cool. 

Honorable Mention
Kendrick Perkins vs Al Horford
Horford has no love for the Celtics.  It was an incident with Horford that earned Pierce a $25,000 fine for flashing a "gang sign" at him in the 2008 playoffs.  He has had scuffles with Perk more than a few times and recently he claimed that Paul Pierce owed him $10,000 for a bet they made while lined up for a free throw in that playoff series.  Hopefully Perk will keep his cool and just shut down Horford without any fights or technicals. 

Ray Allen vs Joe Johnson
Johnson is the Hawks leading scorer and can change a game if he isn't guarded tightly.   Expect to see Pierce or Tony defending Johnson while Ray takes on Williams.  The Celtics need Ray's offense and don't need him worn out from chasing Johnson the whole game. 

Game Notes
• The Hawks are currently leading the season series 1-0; Celtics won the season series 4-0 against Atlanta in 2008-09
• Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 23.5 points per game last season
• Joe Johnson averaged 21.3 points per game against Celtics last season
• Marked the first time in the 60 year history between the two franchises that the Celtics had swept back-to-back season series
• The Celtics are leading the all-time series 214-126 with the Celtics 114-35 at home

Since the Hawks took the Celtics to 7 games in that 2008 playoff series, they felt as though they were due a big win against the Celtics and finally got it when these two met in Boston earlier this season with a 97-86 win at the Garden.  They are a young and athletic team, which are the type of teams that seem to give the Celtics the most problems.   The Hawks got off to a very good start this season but, like the Celtics are coming off of a mini slump.  In their last game, they snapped a 4 game losing streak with a win over the Nets. 

The Celtics are 6-4 in their last 10 games while the Hawks are 4-6 in their last 10.  The Celtics are a good road team with a 14-4 road record while the Hawks are a good home team with a 13-4 record at home.   

Keys to the Game[/b]
Defense - This is the key to every game and to winning a championship this year.  The Hawks are a good 3 point shooting team as well as having the ability to get to the basket and so the Celtics must defend both the perimeter and the paint. 
Rebound -  Against the Heat, the Celtics gave up way too many rebounds which led to the Heat getting more than 30 more shots than them.  They need to work harder on the boards, especially on the offensive end.   
Move the ball When the Celtics rack up a lot of assists, they are very hard to stop but when the ball stops moving, their offense falls apart.  Moving the ball, making the extra pass and finding the open man is crucial for this team's success.   

X-Factor
Benches
The starters on these two teams match up very well against each other.   The benches may be the difference in who comes out on top.   

[Kiorrik]

TP!

And I got the first post, woohoo!

Hope we can put them away fast, and keep fending them off the rest of the night. We don't need another L.

Also, I'm looking forward to the game because:
- I like the Hawks, young and athletic = great basketball.
- I want to see if we're up against such a team.
- I'm still psyched up about last nights game. MY GAWD!!1

[Kiorrik]

At least Bibby will be home and won't be booed every time he touches the ball in this game.

Yeh, I dislike that. Bibby is a good fella imo.

[Atzar]

At least Bibby will be home and won't be booed every time he touches the ball in this game.

Yeh, I dislike that. Bibby is a good fella imo.

I like it.  It's what he gets for insulting our entire fanbase.

I do like the Hawks in general, though.

[angryguy77]

I really don't like the Hawks. Can't really figure out why, just don't like them. Hope we can take them down but it's going to be tough w/o kg

[celticinorlando]

we owe these schmucks......i hope we go all Andy Dufresne on them

[BASS_THUMPER]

wow..gonna be a great game..i hope sheed can keep up

[BASS_THUMPER]

I really don't like the Hawks. Can't really figure out why, just don't like them. Hope we can take them down but it's going to be tough w/o kg

for me they gave us problems last playoffs...

[Donoghus]

This is gonna be a tough one.  No KG is gonna hurt.  I think Rasheed needs to bring his "A" game.  He has had a tendency this season to step up and play extremely well in the "big games".  This is definitely one of those games. 

[celticinorlando]

i think they have to contain crawford off the bench...he killed boston in the first game

[Kiorrik]

we owe these schmucks......i hope we go all Andy Dufresne on them

Red would have liked that

[Kiorrik]

i think they have to contain crawford

Up 'till there I thought you were talking about Joey Crawford...

/facepalm @ me.

[BASS_THUMPER]

i think they have to contain crawford off the bench...he killed boston in the first game

naw  j gonna get his buckets

[Drucci]

It's going to be a tough game since the Hawks always show up against us, and they want to redeem themselves after their 4 games losing streak by winning against a big team (although they won against NJ the other night to put an end to the losing streak... nothing to be proud of).

I have mixed feelings about this one. No KG will hurt but we won in Atlanta with Big Baby in the starting lineup last year, and now we have Rasheed, so... Plus, Sheed has always showed up in big games this season and he does play better when he is starting. Pierce and Rondo will be there and more in sync than against Miami.

So, I guess I feel good about this one, although there are chances it could be a tough game, I think that showing our aggressiveness immediately and getting buckets in the paint will be key in this one. Not to mention our defense. Let them shoot far away from the basket, they won't make enough shots to beat us. We can't let them win the battle of the boards however.

I think the team still remembers very well the humiliation they took from the Hawks in Boston  in November... and payback is going to be hard!

Can't stand the Hawks, by the way. Horford and Bibby first come to mind when I think of punks.

TP FL and let's go C's! Please give us a win on a Friday night to end the slump.

[Who]

Transition defense + one-on-one defense against Josh Smith (deny JJ a second scoring option).

Two main keys I'll be looking out for.