Atlanta Hawks: Hawks vs. Celtics Pre Game Report

It has been a rough couple of weeks for the Atlanta Hawks, as they take on the Boston Celtics tonight in hopes of snapping out of their current five of seven game slide.

Atlanta will have another chance to right the ship on Tuesday night as the team hosts the Boston Celtics at Philips Arena on an evening when Dikembe Mutombo will become the fourth Hawk to have his number retired.

The Hawks are coming off one of their worst losses of the season against the Cavaliers on Saturday night. The Hawks were outplayed, out-hustled and out-coached (the refs made sure of that one) from start to finish in what was a highly touted and highly anticipated Eastern Conference Finals rematch. Clearly the Hawks didn’t get the memo as they stumbled out of the gate and fell to LeBron and his crew 109-97.

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The Hawks were again without Kent Bazemore who is Atlanta’s best perimeter defender and it showed. J.R. Smith started the scoring early and LeBron James cruised to a near triple double performance. This game looked a lot like the playoffs last year as James consistently drew two and three defenders only to find his teammates for wide open looks. At some point the Hawks must change their philosophy on how to guard King James, as this current way isn’t working.

The Hawks were also without Coach Bud for much of the game. He was tossed after receiving a technical foul for arguing a non-call where Justin Holiday was slapped in the face. Maybe the officials, when in the King’s Court, don’t like to be told when they miss a blatantly obvious call. This, oddly enough, sounds exactly like last year’s playoffs as well. But I digress.

The Celtics are having trouble finding consistency themselves early on this season. They currently sit at 7-6 and are dealing with injuries to key players much like the Hawks. The Celtics are coming off of a bad loss on the road to the Nets on Sunday. Isiah Thomas and Avery Bradley both had 27 points in the loss. as the team was without Marcus Smart, who will be sidelined until December at the earliest.

The Celtics were out-rebounded by the Nets 49-35. Brooklyn also shot the lights out, finishing the night shooting over 50% as a team. Head Coach Brad Stevens hasn’t been able to get a solid rotation going, with guys in and out of the lineup with injuries. For a team like the Hawks, that isn’t as much of an issue because their rotation is pretty well established. But for a young team like the Celtics, consistency is the name of the game. Guys need to be able to know their roles and settle into them over the course of the season.

This will be the second matchup of the season for these two squads, as the Celtics downed the Hawks in Boston 105-93 on Friday the 13th. Isiah Thomas led all scorers with 23 in that contest.

Atlanta Hawks /

Atlanta Hawks

Keys to the Game:

Rebounding, Rebounding, Rebounding: I feel like I’m beating a dead horse here, but the Hawks have to be better on the glass.

Nov 13, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder (17) shoots the ball against Boston Celtics center Kelly Olynyk (L) during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta is currently 29th out of 30 NBA teams in rebounding ahead of only the lowly Milwaukee Bucks. When these two teams matched up a little over a week ago, the Celtics held a +15 advantage on the glass with an unbelievable +12 advantage on the offensive glass. The Hawks gave up 17 offensive rebounds. Let that sink in. I could point to Horford and Millsap since they are the team’s starting front court but anyone who has ever played basketball knows that it takes all five guys putting in the effort on the glass to be a good rebounding team. The Hawks are far from that and tonight’s game needs to be the start of a new era. Championship caliber teams don’t rank that low in terms of rebounding. It has been the team’s Achilles Heel for the last few seasons and before anyone takes this team seriously, it needs to be improved upon.

Limit the Celtics’ ‘Big 3’: No, I don’t mean The Big Ticket, Jesus Shuttlesworth and The Truth. The Celtics made 11 three’s the last time these two teams met and with the way the Hawks have been defending the three point line this season, it wouldn’t surprise me if they made 11 more tonight. It was the three ball that kept the Hawks out of the game on Saturday night against the Cavs and it, along with poor rebounding, is what kept the Hawks out of the NBA Finals last season. The Celtics aren’t a great three point shooting team but with the insertion of Avery Bradley into the lineup over Marcus Smart, they are a lot better in that regard. Isiah Thomas can make them from anywhere when he gets going and Jae Crowder’s shot just keeps improving. Made 3’s can be daggers for a team, especially when they are at the end of the shot clock. The Hawks need to keep the Celtics from getting it going from downtown, otherwise it could be another long night.

Projected Starting Lineups:

Atlanta Hawks

PG: Jeff Teague
SG: Kyle Korver
SF: Justin Holiday
PF: Paul Millsap
C: Al Horford

Notes: Kent Bazemore (ankle) and Tiago Splitter (hip) will both be unavailable for tonight’s contest.

Boston Celtics

PG: Isiah Thomas
SG: Avery Bradley
SF: Jae Crowder
PF: Amir Johnson
C: Jared Sullinger

Notes: Marcus Smart (knee) will not play and isn’t expected back until December.

Other News & Notes:

Kyle Korver needs just 9 more three pointers to pass Peja Stojakovic for 10th place All-Time
Former GA State guard, R.J. Hunter will likely see minutes for the Celtics
Coach Bud will be back on the sidelines tonight after he missed the first game against the Celtics due to personal reasons
Dominique Wilkins, Bob Pettit and Lou Hudson are the other three Hawks with their numbers retired
Tonight’s game will be broadcast on Fox Sports South (TV) and 92.9 The Game (Radio)

Next: Coach Budenholzer Fined By League

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