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Boston Celtics (57-14) at Atlanta Hawks (31-39)
Monday, March 25, 2024
7:30 PM ET
Regular Season Game #72 Road Game #37
TV: NBA-TV, NBCSB, BSSE-ATL
98.5 Sports Hub, WZGC
State Farm Arena
Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Payton Pritchard vs Dejounte Murray
Shooting Guard 
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Bogdan Bogdanovic
Small Forward 
vs
Sam Hauser vs Vit Krejci
Power Forward 
vs
Jayson Tatum vs De'Andre Hunter
Center 
vs
Kristaps Porzingis vs Clint Capela
Celtics ReservesOshae Brissett
Luke Kornet
Svi Mykhailiuk
Al Horford
Jordan Walsh
Xavier Tillman
Jaden Springer
2 Way PlayersJD Davison
Drew Peterson
Neemias Queta
Injuries/OutDerrick White (hand) questionable
Xavier Tillman (knee) questionable
Jrue Holiday (shoulder) out
Head CoachJoe Mazzulla
Hawks Reserves Bruno Fernando
Trent Forrest
Garrison Mathews
Wesley Matthews
2 Way Players Vit Krejci
Seth Lundy
Dylan Windler
Injuries/Out Saddiq Bey (knee) out
Kobe Bufkin (toe) out
AJ Griffin (ankle) out
Mouhamed Gueye (elbow) out
Jalen Johnson (ankle) out
Seth Lundy (back) out
Onyeka Okongwu (toe) out
Trae Young (finger) out
Game Notes The Celtics continue their road trip with a stop in Atlanta to take on the Hawks. This is the 3rd game of 4 games between these two teams this season. The Celtics won the first two games this season against Atlanta - 113-103 on Nov. 26 and 125-117 on Feb. 7, both games were played in Boston. They will meet for the final time on March 28. in Atlanta. The Celtics will have 2 days off before their next meeting while the Hawks will play Portland on Wednesday and the Celtics on Thursday.
The Celtics won the series 3-0 last season and they have won the last 7 games against the Hawks and the last 2 games in Atlanta. The Celtics are 244 -147 overall all time against the Hawks and they are 112-93 in games played in Atlanta. The Celtics have a seven-game winning streak against the Hawks and have won the past two games played in Atlanta.
The Celtics remain 1st in the East, 11 games ahead of 2nd place Milwaukee, 14 games ahead of 3rd place Cleveland, 14.5 games ahead of 4th place New York, 15 games ahead of 5th place Orlando, and 17 games ahead of 6th place Indiana. They are 25-11 on the road and 9-1 in their last 10 games. They are 38-7 against Eastern Conference teams and have won their last 9 games.
The Hawks are 10th in the East and are in the final play-in spot. They are 7 games behind 8th place Miami, 7.5 games behind 7th place Philadelphia and 2.5 games behind 9th place Chicago. They are 5.5 games ahead of 11th place Brooklyn and falling out of play-in contention. The Hawks are 17-17at home and 5-5 in the last 10 games. They are 18-26 against Eastern Conference teams and won their last game.
The Celtics are playing in the third game of a 6 game road trip through They beat Detroit and Chicago in the first 2 games. They have one more game in Atlanta after this one and then will play New Orleans and Charlotte before returning home for 3 games against Oklahoma City, Sacramento, and Portland. Then it's one game in Milwaukee before finishing the season at home against New York, Charlotte and Washington.
The Hawks are playing in the second game of a 5 game home stand. They beat Charlotte by 41 points in the first game of the home stand and will play Portland on Wednesday and the Celtics once again on Thursday and will close out the home stand against the Bucks. Then, it's one game at Chicago and home again vs Detroit before going on the road again to Dallas and Denver. Then it's back home vs Miami and Charlotte and they will finish the season on the road against Minnesota and Indiana.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis are all off the injury report at this time. Derrick White has been added to the report with a a right hand sprain. He is questionable and will be a game time decision, although I expect him to get the game off since he played in the last 2 games when other starters rested. Xavier Tillman is also questionable with knee swelling. Jrue Holiday remains out with a shoulder contusion. I'm guessing that White will sit and Hauser and Pritchard will get the start.
The Hawks have 8 players on the injury report at this time. Saddiq Bey (knee), Kobe Bufkin (toe), AJ Griffin (ankle), Mouhamed Gueye (elbow), Jalen Johnson (ankle), Onyeka Okongwu (toe) and Trae Young (finger) are all out. Two Way player Seth Lundy is also out with a back injury. I've included the starting five that is listed in their game notes for this game.
Key Matchups vs
Payton Pritchard vs Dejounte Murray
Murray is averaging 22.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He is shooting 46.5% from the field and 36.8% from beyond the arc. Murray is also one of the Hawks best defenders. In the first game against the Celtics, he finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. He shot just 15.4% from the field and didn't shoot a 3. He didn't play in the second meeting between these two teams. The Celtics will need to work hard on both ends of the court to get the better of this matchup.
vs
Jaylen Brown vs Bogdan Bogdanovic
Bogdanovic is averaging 16.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.2 steals. He is shooting 42.3% from the field and 37.4% from beyond the arc. In the first 2 games against the Celtics, he averaged 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds 1.5 assists and 1 steal, while shooting 43.3% from the field and 45.3% on 3 pointers. I'm assuming that Derrick White will be out and Jaylen Brown will move to shooting guard, but I could be wrong.
Honorable Mention Jayson Tatum vs De'Andre Hunter
Hunter is averaging 15.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He is shooting 46.7% from the field and 40.2% from beyond the arc. In the first 2 games against the Celtics, he averaged 17 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 43.5% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc.
Keys to the Game Defense - Defense is always a key to winning games. Defense is especially important for the Celtics in this game because the Hawks are a good scoring team, averaging 119.2 points per game, which is 5th in the league. The Celtics are 2nd, averaging 121.2 points per game. The Celtics have a defensive rating of 110.5 which is 2nd while the Hawks have a defensive rating of 118.6, which is 26th. The Celtics must make defense a priority in this game and they have to play that tough defense for 48 minutes and not let up.
Rebound - Next to defense, rebounding is a key to winning. Much of rebounding is effort and desire. When the Celtics put out the extra effort on the boards, it usually carries through to the rest of their game. The Hawks are averaging 44.7 rebounds per game (6th) while the Celtics are averaging 46.5 rebounds per game (2nd). The Hawks are 2nd with 16.2 second chance points per game. The Celtics need to aggressively go after every rebound. They can't afford to give the Hawks extra possessions and 2nd chance points by allowing them to grab rebounds.
Stay Focused - The Celtics need to come in focused and stay focused throughout the game. They need to focus on their shots and shot selection. They need to focus on making their free throws. They need to focus on playing defense and making the right switches. They need to focus on making good passes and not turning the ball over as the Hawks average 17.4 points off turnovers per game. The Celtics can't take the Hawks for granted because they have 8 players out, or because they have a losing record. The Celtics have to stay focused on playing their best ball and not expect to win without effort.
Be Aggressive - The Hawks play hard and if the Celtics allow them to play harder than them, they just may surprise the Celtics. The Hawks were the more aggressive team and they played harder and with more energy and the Celtics lost. 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. The Hawks are coming off a 41 point win over the Hornets and would love nothing more than to beat the Celtics in this one, especially since there is a chance they could meet in the first round.
Road Game and Fatigue - The Celtics are playing on the road and will have the distractions of travel and a hotel stay and playing in front of hostile fans in an unfamiliar arena. The Celtics are playing in the 3rd game in 4 nights, the 4th game in 6 days and the 6th game in 9 days, along with playing short handed in those games. Fatigue could come into play in this one.
Officiating - Officiating is always an x-factor. Every crew calls the game a little differently with some calling it tight and others letting them play. Some refs just make head scratching calls while others try very hard to get them right. Sometimes they are tech crazy for every little thing. In some games they call the 2 halves completely differently. The Celtics have to adjust to how the game is being called and focus on playing the game and not on the officiating.
Topic: Celtics (57-14) at Hawks (31-39) Game #72 3/25/24 (Read 9615 times)