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Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« on: January 28, 2010, 11:51:16 PM »

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Boston Celtics (29-14) at Atlanta Hawks (29-14)
Friday, January 29
7:30 PM
Game #44, Road Game #24
TV: NBA-TV, RTV, CSN-NE, SSO-ATL
Radio:  WEEI,  WQXI
Phillips Arena




Probable Starters
  PG  Rajon Rondo 14.2 PPG 9.7 APG 2.5 SPG

  SG Ray Allen  15.9 PPG 2.9 APG .345 3P% 

  SF  Paul Pierce  18.9 PPG 4,8 RPG 3.6 APG

  PF Kevin Garnett   15.0 PPG 7.3 RPG 0.9 BPG

  C Kendrick Perkins Perkins 12.0 PPG 8.5 RPG 2.1 BPG 

Reserves
Shelden Williams
Brian Scalabrine
Bill Walker
Tony Allen
Big Baby Davis 
Eddie House
Rasheed Wallace

Injuries:
Marquis Daniels (thumb) out

D-League
JR Giddens   





Probable Starters
  PG Mike Bibby 9.2 PPG  4.4 APG   0.9 SPG

  SG Joe Johnson 21.1 PPG  4.9 APG 5.9 .352 3P%   

  SF  Marvin Williams  10.5 PPG  5.0 RPG 1.1 APG

  PF Josh Smith  15.1 PPG  8.3 RPG 2.2 BPG 

C  Al Horford  13.8 PPG 9.8 RPG 1.3 BPG

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

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
Rondo must be aggressive in this game.  Bibby has had a couple of big games against the Celtics and Rondo must stay close to him on defense especially on the perimeter as Bibby can be very dangerous from there.  On the other end, Rondo has got to be aggressive pushing the ball up the floor and going to the basket. 

  vs 
Kevin Garnett vs Josh Smith
Smith is a very athletic and quick power forward and will be a good test of how healthy KG really is.   At times against the Magic, KG looked a step slow especially on that last play by Rashard Lewis.   I even wonder if Doc will play KG in this game or sit him out in hopes to have him fresh for the Lakers game. 

Honorable Mention
Ray Allen vs Joe Johnson
Joe Johnson is the Hawks leading scorer and slowing him down is one of the keys to beating this team.  He is dangerous both on the perimeter and taking the ball inside.  It would be really nice if Ray could get his shot going early and make Johnson have to work on the defensive end. 

Game Notes
• The Hawks are currently leading the season series 3-0; 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 214-129 with the Celtics 114-37 at home

The Celtics are down 3 games to none to this Hawks team.  That record may be a little skewed though because the only game that the Celtics had their full complement of players was the first one.   In their second meeting, The Celtics were without KG and in their third game, the Celtics were missing both KG and Sheed, leaving Scal to match up with Josh Smith.  In each of those games, the Hawks were at full strength.  In fact, they haven't had any major injuries this season so far.  The Celtics are still missing Marquis Daniels, but they have their starting lineup back and that should make a difference.   

The Celtics are coming off a tough loss to the Magic in which Ray Allen and Paul Pierce both played over 40 minutes and KG played 33.  Perk's the only starter who will be fresh since he played only 15 minutes due to foul trouble.  Any way you look at it, this is going to be a very tough game for the Celtics to win against a team who is always a tough matchup for them.   

Keys to the Game
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 -  The Celtics have been giving up too many rebounds.  With Horford and Smith inside, if the Celtics don't box out and get the defensive boards, the Hawks will get second chance baskets.  If the Celtics don't grab the offensive boards, the Hawks will get out on the break for easy baskets.      The Celtics must put out more effort on boards.   
Focus The Celtics must come out focused on getting this win.  They don't want to allow a potential playoff foe to sweep the series.  They could blame the previous 2 losses on injuries, but there won't be an excuse for this one. 

X-Factor
Fatigue
The Celtics gave up a 16 point lead against the Magic and looked very tired at the end of that game.   With Pierce and Ray playing over 40 minutes and Rondo and KG over 30 minutes against the Magic,   they may be running on fumes by the end of this one.  They will need a lot of heart to win this one. 
   

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2010, 12:47:15 AM »

Offline Rondo_is_better

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Welp...I'm not confident. It's gotten to that point. 
Grab a few boards, keep the TO's under 14, close out on shooters and we'll win.

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2010, 02:16:54 AM »

Offline xmuscularghandix

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GET EM! >:(

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2010, 07:35:19 AM »

Kiorrik

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TP up in this shizzle, for the lovely FL-Celtsfizzle!

Or something like that; I'm clueless when it comes to "street" language, or whatever it's called.

Main point; great thread. Looking forward to the game.

This had better be a blowout though, need to stay up for it after a long day here at work, a basketball game of my own where I have to carry a big load, and just 2 hours of sleep last night.

I swear it, these back-to-backs are killing me more so than they are killing the team. You guys have no idea.

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2010, 08:20:03 AM »

Offline csfansince60s

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This had better be a blowout though, need to stay up for it after a long day here at work, a basketball game of my own where I have to carry a big load, and just 2 hours of sleep last night.
.


Hey Kiorrik,

This may be a blowout, but just not the kind you and I are hoping for. This is the third time in a row when we are playing this team(I don't even wanna say their name after the way the refs handed them the game last time) on the back end of a back to back. Is that just our terrible luck or their good fortune? Both I guess! How often will that happen in a decade?

After last night's debacle, I'm gonna take tonight off from watching the game (I'll DVR it and watch it tomorrow or late tonight if we win.) It's hard to watch a game when no matter how big your lead, you always get that feeling in the pit of your stomach that they're gonna catch us and we're gonna lose. It's also hard to watch a game when a team I dislike as much I dislike the Hawks will likely beat us.

Trying to feel positive here, but I just couldn't bring myself to post in the "Feel Good" game thread.

P.S. The Cs need more fans like you who ignore the time differences and persevere. Go Cs!!!!

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2010, 08:46:33 AM »

Kiorrik

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P.S. The Cs need more fans like you who ignore the time differences and persevere. Go Cs!!!!
Dunno if I'm a fan or an utter, utter loon.

Lil' bit of both I guess ;)

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2010, 09:25:44 AM »

Offline csfansince60s

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P.S. The Cs need more fans like you who ignore the time differences and persevere. Go Cs!!!!
Dunno if I'm a fan or an utter, utter loon.

Lil' bit of both I guess ;)


Being the former, I think predispodses us to be the latter. Keep the faith.

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #7 on: January 29, 2010, 09:27:31 AM »

Offline Who

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This will be a good test for the Celtics. A lot of interesting matchups and against a very athletic team.

It would have been better if this game was in 2-3 weeks though. After KG had a chance to get himself a bit healthier and the C's had more time to regain their form after their poor performances without KG. That would have been a more accurate indicator of where the the two teams stand matchup wise.

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #8 on: January 29, 2010, 09:32:08 AM »

Offline Drucci

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I'm glad I will watch the game live.

With that said... It could get really ugly for us on a back to back. The Celtics will be aware of the areas they need to improve and I'm sure they will do their best to fix the holes in their games, but I'm afraid fatigue and age will just catch up with them this time against a well rested young and athletic team.

If we get a 15 point lead or more, I sure hope we hang on to it to win the game... enough of the blown leads, there can't be more frustrating losses than this one.

I fear a loss but I would be glad to be proven wrong. Maybe the fact that the Celtics will come in this game in the position of the wounded animal will help them win it somehow.

TP FL and let's go C's!

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2010, 09:32:49 AM »

Kiorrik

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P.S. The Cs need more fans like you who ignore the time differences and persevere. Go Cs!!!!
Dunno if I'm a fan or an utter, utter loon.

Lil' bit of both I guess ;)


Being the former, I think predispodses us to be the latter. Keep the faith.
I will! *hangs in there* And we WILL WIN DARNIT!

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #10 on: January 29, 2010, 09:39:59 AM »

Offline csfansince60s

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[[/quote]
I will! *hangs in there* And we WILL WIN DARNIT!
[/quote]

Ahhh....the exuberance of youth! I wish the team had some of both of those (exuberance and youth)! Maybe soon....

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #11 on: January 29, 2010, 09:59:15 AM »

Offline WeMadeIt17

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Need To go out and dominate. If not I see changes on the horizon.

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #12 on: January 29, 2010, 10:30:33 AM »

Offline Chief

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Welp...I'm not confient. It's gotten to that point. 

I'm with you. This maybe the first time, with KG, that I don't know if the Celtics can win. Against most good teams, I give the C's at least a 50/50. I think tonight's game is 20/80. :-[
Once you are labeled 'the best' you want to stay up there, and you can't do it by loafing around.
 
Larry Bird

Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #13 on: January 29, 2010, 10:46:46 AM »

Offline Brickowski

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I will be shocked if the Celtics win this game.  Atlanta smells blood, although I suppose a miracle could happen.


Re: Celtics (29-14) at Hawks (29-14) 1/29
« Reply #14 on: January 29, 2010, 10:56:31 AM »

Offline lon3lytoaster

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+
=All of you (Except Kiorrik)
We'll win tonight.

Almost forgot my prediction.. C's by an infinity.