Author Topic: First Round Game 2: Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics, 4/23/08 (8:00pm, TNT / CSN)  (Read 39999 times)

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Offline Roy Hobbs

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Post all thoughts about Game 2 of the Hawks / Celtics playoff series here.

I'm sure either CelticBalla32 or FLCeltsFan will be along shortly to create a proper game thread.  (Remember to thank them for their efforts!)
« Last Edit: April 21, 2008, 11:32:53 AM by Roy Hobbs »

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Offline FLCeltsFan

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Atlanta Hawks (0-1) at Boston Celtics (1-0)
Postseason Game #2 – Home Game #2
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
8:00 PM ET
TNT,   CSN HD
TD Banknorth Garden




Probable Starting Lineup
PG   Rajon Rondo   PPG 10.6 RPG 4.20 APG 5.1 EFF + 14.21
SG        Ray Allen   PPG 17.4 RPG 3.70 APG 3.1 EFF + 15.77
SF    Paul Pierce   PPG 19.6 RPG 5.10 APG 4.5 EFF + 19.94 
PF         Kevin Garnett    PPG 18.8 RPG 9.20 APG 3.4 EFF + 24.85
C       Kendrick Perkins     PPG 6.9 RPG 6.10 APG 1.1 EFF + 11.76

Off the Bench
Eddie House, James Posey,  Leon Powe, Big Baby Davis,  Tony Allen,  PJ Brown, Sam Cassell,  Brian Scalabrine, Gabe Pruitt

Injury Report
Scot Pollard,  ankle, out




Probable Starting Lineup
PG Mike Bibby     PPG 13.9 RPG 3.30 APG 6.0 EFF + 14.15
SG Joe Johnson  PPG 21.7 RPG 4.50 APG 5.8 EFF + 19.34
SF Marvin Williams PPG 14.8 RPG 5.70 APG 1.7 EFF + 14.99
PF Josh Smith PPG 17.2 RPG 8.20 APG 3.4 EFF + 20.83
C Al Horford PPG 10.1 RPG 9.70 APG 1.5 EFF + 16.51

Off the Bench:
Josh Childress, Zaza Pachulia, Salim Stoudamire, Mario West, Jeremy Richardson, Solomon Jones, Acie Law

Injuries
Speedy Claxton, knee, out

Key Matchups
 
This is still going to be a key matchup.  Rondo clearly came out on top in the first game and out-played Bibby on both ends of the court in his very first playoff game.   Bibby is a veteran, though and will come back determined to play better and Rondo will need to elevate his game up as well. 

  vs 
Al Horford had a very strong game and is one of the reasons that the Hawks were able to stay in the game as long as they did.  Hopefully Perk can stay out of foul trouble and keep Horford off the boards. 

Honorable Mention
Kevin Garnett vs Josh Smith
Smith is one of the Hawks best players but he had an off game due to foul trouble and allergy problems in game 1.  He is a very athletic player and can block shots and affect shots in the paint along with grabbing rebounds and scoring inside.  KG needs to make him work on both ends of the court and maybe get him in foul trouble again.

Keys to the game:
Rebound
   The Celtics were out rebounded 41-40 in the first game and allowed the Hawks to get second and third chance baskets.   The Celtics need to be more aggressive on the boards.  There is an old adage that says, "Offense sells tickets, defense wins games and rebounding wins championships."  I think this is because much of rebounding is effort and the team that wins the rebounding war has put out the most effort. 

Don't Overlook the Hawks   The Celtics had an easy time beating the Hawks in game one but they can't take them for granted.  They have to take a lesson from their last playoff appearance where they won the first game against the Pacers and then lost the series.  The Hawks will make adjustments and the Celtics have to be ready for that. 

Be Aggressive  The Celtics need to come out and be aggressive from start to finish.  Even with a big lead, they can't let up.  The Pistons had a big lead on the Sixers and let up and ended up losing the game.  The Celtics need to come out strong and play hard for 48 minutes.   

Defense  Defense becomes more important in the playoffs and even though the Celtics have won with defense all season, they need to take that defense to another level now that the playoffs are here.  They can't allow second chance points and they need to limit easy baskets. 

X-Factor
Bench Play
The Celtics bench out scored the Hawks bench 36-22 in the first game.  If the Celtics bench continues to produce,  they will be hard to beat. 

Offline BASSTHUMPER

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Bench Play
The Celtics bench out scored the Hawks bench 36-22 in the first game.  If the Celtics bench continues to produce,  they will be hard to beat. 

the most important part of are run for that ring....

thanks FlCeltsFan


Offline Bahku

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Nineteen hours until ground zero ... go Celtics!!
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Offline dark_lord

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any1 else going to the game tonight?

Offline JBone4eva

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yea I'm going tonight too.. I can't wait.. it's my first playoff game  ;D ;D

Offline Donoghus

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any1 else going to the game tonight?

I'll be there in my usual perch.


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Offline dark_lord

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yea I'm going tonight too.. I can't wait.. it's my first playoff game  ;D ;D
cool, congats.  the crowd will likely be a little flat, as the hawks arent any competition.  once we play better teams, the crowd will step up and be rowdy.

Offline southieceltic33

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yea I'm going tonight too.. I can't wait.. it's my first playoff game  ;D ;D
cool, congats.  the crowd will likely be a little flat, as the hawks arent any competition.  once we play better teams, the crowd will step up and be rowdy.

Not entirely true, it should be pretty crazy at the begining of the game, make sure your at your seats atleast 15-20 mins before the game starts, its crazy up until the middle of the first quarter, when we should be up by 10 or so, then it will calm down!

For Anyone else going the game, make sure you let Mike Bibby hear it tonight! Me and my friends will be booing loudly whenever he touches the ball!

Offline ma11l

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I agree that it'll be a little flat in the second half.  That really is a shame though, we've been waiting for these months as fans and we should enjoy every minute of it.  Don't get bored out there fans, if nothing else just stay on Bibby the whole time to be entertained.  "Bandwagon" fans get bored during blowouts, "Real" fans have been waiting for these playoffs since the beginning of the year and will be yelling and screaming the whole time.
"Take this down," said O'Neal. "My name is Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce is the (expletive) truth. Quote me on that and don't take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn't know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the truth."

Offline ma11l

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The Hawks point guard called out Celtics center Kendrick Perkins before tonight’s game, coming back at Perkins for his comment on Bibby’s poor shooting performance yesterday.

“I don’t know where [Perkins] got this tough streak from,” said Bibby. “His stat line was worse than mine. Until he does something in his career, for him to come at me like that, it kind of upsets me.”



From the Globe's In-Game Blog.  God I hope this gets to Perk before he takes the floor.  The Celts have this series, he can take Game 3 off after he knocks a few of Bibby's teeth out.
"Take this down," said O'Neal. "My name is Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce is the (expletive) truth. Quote me on that and don't take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn't know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the truth."

Offline BudweiserCeltic

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This means that Perk will be swatting at least one to the stands, right?  That would bring people to their feet.  But I preffer a more calm thinking Perk, than someone who's hyped.  When he's hyped he tends to make dumb mistakes.

Edit: Is everyone at the game? This place looks very empty.  I was thinking many would be around during a playoff game.
« Last Edit: April 23, 2008, 07:27:23 PM by BudweiserCeltic »

Offline RebusRankin

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Bibby's got a big mouth for somebody who hasn't won anything at the pro level. Never been an all-star, didn't get it done in game 7 WCF versus LA in 2002, the list goes on and on.

Offline Scott

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Interesting fact:
Quote
Bibby is the brother-in-law of current Boston Celtics guard Eddie House, who was also his Sacramento Kings teammate during the 2004-05 NBA season
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Bibby

The crowd is going to be amped up tonight.

Offline Bahku

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Here we go ... gotta put the pedal down tonight! GO Celts!!
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