at
Boston Celtics (23-2) at Atlanta Hawks (15-9)
Wednesday, December 17
7:00 PM
Game #26, Road Game #11
TV: ESPN, SportsSouthHD, CSNHD
Phillips Arena Probable Starters PG Rajon Rondo PPG 10.9 RPG 5.00 APG 7.4
SG Ray Allen PPG 18.6 RPG 3.50 APG 2.5
SF PPG 18.6 RPG 6.00 APG 3.8
PF Kevin Garnett PPG 16.4 RPG 9.60 APG 2.5
C Kendrick Perkins PPG 8.4 RPG 8.30 BLk 1.7
Reserves Reserves
Tony Allen
Glen Davis
Eddie House
Leon Powe
Gabe Pruitt
Brian Scalabrine
Patrick O'Bryant
Sam Cassell
Injuries:Paul Pierce (knee) probable
Eddie House (death in family) probable
Probable Starters PG Mike Bibby PPG 16.0 RPG 3.30 APG 5.0
SG Joe Johnson PPG 23.1 RPG 4.50 APG 5.4
SF Marvin Williams PPG 13.2 RPG 5.90 APG 1.7
PF Josh Smith PPG 12.5 RPG 7.60 APG 2.6
C Al Horford PPG 11.1 RPG 8.40 APG 2.5
ReservesAcie Law
Solomon Jones
Maurice Evans
Flip Murray
Othello Hunter
Randolph Morris
Mario West
Speedy Claxton
Thomas Gardner
Zaza Pachulia
Injuries Speedy Claxton (knee) out
Key Matchups vs
After a matchup with Chris Paul followed by one with Deron Williams, now, Rondo will face an old foe in Mike Bibby. Bibby was very vocal about the Celtics fans during the playoffs, calling them bandwagon fans. Rondo will need to continue to be aggressive, taking the ball at Bibby every chance he gets.
vs
Joe Johnson would love to take it to his former team. He can put up points in a hurry and Ray Allen will need to work on defense to try to keep Johnson from going off. Johnson had 28 points and 7 assists in their last meeting.
Honorable MentionKevin Garnett vs Josh Smith
Smith was out when the Celtics played the Hawks earlier this season. Smith has played very well against the Celtics in the past. He is always a tough matchup for the Celtics.
Game Notes The Hawks took the Celtics to 7 games in the first round of the playoffs, surprising many fans on both sides. In the first matchup between these two teams, the Celtics barely squeaked by the Hawks with a 103-102 win in the Garden but it took Paul Pierce coming out of the booth as Superman and hitting a fallaway jumper with 0.5 seconds left to win the game.
In their first meeting, the Hawks were playing in the second of back to back games and they were playing without Josh Smith and yet the Celtics barely beat them. The Celtics are going to have to pick up their game in order to beat the Hawks in Atlanta since they struggled there in the playoffs and the matchups between these two teams seem to give the Celtics problems.
Team Connections: Doc Rivers played for the Hawks from '83-'91 and holds the Hawks' record for assists with 3866
Celtics' assistant Armond Hill played for the Hawks '76-80 and '83-'84
Rajon Rondo and Josh Smith were teammates at Oak Hill Academy
Joe Johnson was drafted by the Celtics with the 10th pick in the 2001 draft
Mike Bibby and Eddie House are brothers in law
Rajon Rondo and Randolph Morris were teammates at Kentucky
Al Horford and Big Baby Davis played against each other in the 2006 Final Four
Hawks Assistant Alton Lister played for the Celtics from '95-'97
Mo Evans and KG were teammates in Minnesota