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Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/27/17
« on: February 26, 2017, 09:19:10 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Atlanta Hawks (32-26) at Boston Celtics (38-21)
Monday, February 27, 2017
7:30 PM ET
Game #60, Home Game #29
TV:  CSNNE, FSSE, NBA-LP 754(DTV)/ 755(xfinity)
Radio: 98.5 Sports Hub, 92.9 FM The Game
TD Garden



Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard

vs
Isaiah Thomas vs Dennis Schroder

Shooting Guard
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Kent Bazemore

Small Forward
vs
Jae Crowder  vs  Thabo Sefolosha

Power Forward
vs
Al Horford  vs  Paul Millsap 

Center
vs
Amir Johnson vs Dwight Howard


Celtics Reserves
Gerald Green
Terry Rozier
Jonas Jerebko
Kelly Olynyk
Demetrius Jackson
James Young
Tyler Zeller
Jaylen Brown

Injuries
Avery Bradley (Achilles) game time decision
Gerald Green  (heel) day to day

Head Coach

Brad Stevens 



Hawks Reserves
Malcolm Delaney
Mike Dunleavy, Jr.
Kris Humphries
Mike Muscala
Taurean Prince
DeAndre Bembry
Ryan Kelly
Ersan Ilyasova
Tim Hardaway, Jr

Injuries
None

Head Coach
Mike Budenholzer

Game Notes
The Celtics return home from a 2 game road trip to face the Atlanta Hawks.  The Celtics lead the series 1-0 so far this season, winning 103-101 on January 13th.  Isaiah Thomas hit the game winner with 2 seconds left and Paul Millsap missed a heave at the buzzer to end the game.  They will face each other once more in Atlanta on April 6. 

The Celtics are playing in back to back games, having played in Detroit on Sunday night.  Atlanta last played on Saturday when they lost to the Magic 105-86.  The Celtics have prided themselves on playing well in back to back games and are 9-4 on the second night of back to back games and 3-1 when the games are road/home. 

Last season the Hawks won the series 3-1 with the Celtics winning the first game in Boston and then losing the final 3 meetings of the regular season.  The Celtics also faced the Haws in the first round of the playoffs, which the Hawks won 4-2. The Celtics are 7-3 in their last 10 games while the Hawks are 5-5 in their last 10.  The Celtics are 20-8 at home while the Hawks are 16-13 on the road. 

The Hawks is another team that improved itself when they acquired Ersan Ilyasova from the 76ers at the trade deadline.  They also added Ryan Kelly and Lamar Patterson from the D-League.  Ilyasova has given the Celtics problems this season playing for the Sixers averaging 19.5 points against the Celtics this season. 

Kelly played seven games, all starts, for the Celtics affiliate Red Claws where he averaged 27.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 35.8 minutes.   Patterson played 28 games, including 27 starts, and averaged 24.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 35.8 minutes for the Reno Big Horns. And just like that, the Hawks waived Patterson on Sunday.   

Atlanta has no injuries to report at the time of this writing.   Avery Bradley is very close to returning to the Celtics' lineup.  He has participated in portions of practice and in the pre game warmups before the Pistons game and reportedly feels great.  He will be a game time decision once again.  Gerald Green is also a game time decision with a heel injury. 

Standings Reset
The standings in the East are still up for grabs with several teams bunched up in the middle.  The Celtics pull to within 3 of the idle Cavs.  With a Celtics win and a Wizards loss, the Celtics are now 3 games ahead of the Wizards.  Toronto also won and remain 3 games behind the Celtics.  The Celtics are 5.5 games ahead of the Hawks.  The Raptors are also playing back to back and are at the Knicks. 

Key Matchups
vs
Al Horford  vs  Paul Millsap 
Millsap is averaging 18.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.5 steals per game.     Horford should know Millsap's game well after playing with him in Atlanta for years.   Horford needs to stay with Millsap to keep him from having a big game. 

vs
Isaiah Thomas vs Dennis Schroder
Schroder is averaging 17.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game.  Even off the bench, Schroder was a problem for the Celtics in the playoffs.  He is a very good defender and so Isaiah will need to work harder to get his points in this game. 

Honorable Mention
Amir Johnson vs Dwight Howard
Howard is averaging 13.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks.  He will make getting to the basket difficult for the Celtics.  Amir has to somehow keep Howard off the boards and out of the paint.  Hopefully he will hit a couple of 3's and be able to pull Howard out to the perimeter. 

Keys to the Game
Play as a Team - The Celtics didn't get a star at the trade deadline and so they have to play harder as a team.  They have to move the ball and find the open man who then has to hit his shots.  More importantly they need to work as a team on defense and get stops and turn them into fast breaks.  They need to remember their theme from last year's playoffs that they are One Superstar and play like it. 

Take Care of the Ball - The Hawks are 9th in the league in steals with 8.3 per game.   The   The Hawks are 4th in the league in forcing turnovers with 15.3 per game, turning them into 16.5 points per game.  The Celtics have to make good passes and not allow the Hawks to get extra points off steals and turnovers.  If the Celtics get careless, the Hawks will make them pay. 

Rebound -  The Celtics have to make an extra effort to crash the glass and not give the Hawks extra possessions.  Howard and Milsap are tough on the boards and the Celtics need to box out and aggressively go after the rebounds as a team to avoid giving them second chance and fast break points.  The Hawks are 8th in the league with 13.6 second chance points per game.  This may be the biggest difference in these two teams.  The Celtics are  averaging 41.1 rebounds per game while the Hawks are averaging 44.1 rebounds per game.   

Defense
- Defense wins games.   The Hawks have players who can put points up in a hurry and the Celtics have to concentrate on defense to keep them from having big games.   Both of these teams pride themselves on playing tough defense.   The Celtics have to focus on playing tough lock down defense if they want to get a win.

Be Aggressive
- The Celtics must be the team that plays harder and that wants this win more.  They have to be aggressive in diving for loose balls, in going to the basket, in getting stops on the defensive end, and in going after rebounds.  They have to play harder and be more aggressive from start to finish.  Their best hope to beat the Hawks is to play harder from start to finish. 

X-Factors
Focus and Fatigue
-   The Celtics are playing on the second night of back to back games after being on the road and so fatigue and focus may be factors.  They have to come out focused on the game and on playing their best against a tough Atlanta team.   They have to concentrate on playing team ball and  stay focused throughout the game.  Staying focused may help them stave off fatigue from playing two nights in a row. 

Playing for Al - Every player likes to beat their former team.  The Celtics beat them the first time they played them and I'm sure he would love to get a win in this one and win the season series from them.  This should give the team added motivation if they needed any. 

Officiating - Officiating is always an x-factor.  The Celtics play best when the officials let them play and don't call a lot of ticky tack fouls for incidental contact.    Referees with an agenda are always a possibility as well.   But the Celtics can't let the officials take them out of their game with bad or ticky tack calls.   They have to play their game regardless of the way the game is called. 
 
« Last Edit: February 27, 2017, 01:23:23 PM by FLCeltsFan »

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/26/17
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2017, 09:23:14 PM »

Offline ayer

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Go Celtics...!!!!! another good thread

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/26/17
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2017, 09:23:33 PM »

Offline hwangjini_1

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Second.

Dang, dang, dang, dang! >:( I miss d being first by what? 19 seconds? Congrats and a tp for Ayer.

Thanks flc. And thanks for the cute dogs at the top. That means the Celtics will be top dog in this game. ;D

Goooooooooooooo Celtics!  ;D

P.s. Flc, these threads are amazing. I love the commentary and the pix. So much work goes into them. Many, many thanks.
I believe Gandhi is the only person who knew about real democracy — not democracy as the right to go and buy what you want, but democracy as the responsibility to be accountable to everyone around you. Democracy begins with freedom from hunger, freedom from unemployment, freedom from fear, and freedom from hatred.
- Vandana Shiva

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/26/17
« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2017, 09:24:45 PM »

Offline tarheelsxxiii

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asdfsdf

Hawks waived Lamar Patterson today = easy win tomorrow.   ;D

TP to FLCelts for mastering the art of efficiency.
The Tarstradamus Group, LLC

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/26/17
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2017, 09:25:57 PM »

Offline max215

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Go Celtics!!!!!
Isaiah, you were lightning in a bottle.

DKC Clippers

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/26/17
« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2017, 09:31:37 PM »

Offline jpotter33

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Hopefully a game against his old team will wake Al back up offensively. We really need his shot to be hitting in order to be successful.

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/26/17
« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2017, 09:36:19 PM »

Offline SHAQATTACK

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ops Gooooooooo O Celtics

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/26/17
« Reply #7 on: February 26, 2017, 09:40:11 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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A TP to ayer for being the first to post in the game thread and a TP to hwangjini_1 for always giving me a smile and for missing first just by seconds.   

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Celtics!!!!! 

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/26/17
« Reply #8 on: February 27, 2017, 06:34:05 AM »

Offline hodgy03038

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Go Celts!! TP for FL.

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/26/17
« Reply #9 on: February 27, 2017, 06:50:56 AM »

Offline PAOBoston

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Going to need to have that team rebound mentality again tonight to have a chance on the boards against Howard/Millsap.

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/26/17
« Reply #10 on: February 27, 2017, 07:29:03 AM »

Offline Surferdad

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Nice write-up FlCelts. Please change date to 2/27/17 in title of thread.

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/26/17
« Reply #11 on: February 27, 2017, 08:42:38 AM »

Offline apc

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Anytime will be good now Bradley...

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/27/17
« Reply #12 on: February 27, 2017, 10:30:29 AM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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Nice write-up FlCelts. Please change date to 2/27/17 in title of thread.

Done.  Thanks.  It's tough on back to backs trying to get the threads up quickly.  TP for catching that for me. 

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/27/17
« Reply #13 on: February 27, 2017, 10:51:42 AM »

Offline makaveli

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also, Jaylen Brown is in the starting lineup and the reserves
we lost to the bulls and the raptors, and almost to the pistons, it is time to really get back at playing that pre all star level.
what doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Re: Hawks (32-26) at Celtics (38-21) Game #60 2/27/17
« Reply #14 on: February 27, 2017, 11:00:56 AM »

Offline footey

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Hoping Brad stops pulling the reigns on Jaylen after hot starts. Keep him in the game. Kid capable of 20 points a game with decent minutes, especially with other teams doubling IT.