The Atlanta Hawks face a Celtics defense that got tougher on the perimeter

The Atlanta Hawks (26-29) are the last team to beat the Boston Celtics. That is kind of hard to believe given the former has lost four of its last six games while the latter will be going for its eighth straight win. Still, it is the 10th-seeded Hawks that have the 2-0 season advantage over the currently seventh-seeded Celtics.

If they want to make it 3-0 they will have to give a better effort than they gave in the loss to the Spurs when they gave up 136 points. It was their first time giving up at least 130 points in over a month.

They also saw John Collins come away from the game with a heel injury that the team says will keep the high-flying forward out for the next three games.

Even so, the Hawks can’t afford to drop another game with so few remaining.

The Atlanta Hawks face a different set of challenges after the Celtics traded for guard Derrick White

Collins was the Hawks leading scorer against the Celtics at 20.5 points on 65.4 percent shooting with 10.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game. Both games saw the high-flying forward score at least 10 points in the third quarter. He also turned the ball over just two times.

Without him, the Hawks could have trouble getting back to their pick-and-roll offense, though, Clint Capela did notch his first double-double in over a month in the loss to San Antonio.

Further complicating a return to normalcy is Boston’s new addition, Derrick White. A potential Hawks target prior to the trade deadline, White played 28 minutes in his first action with the Celtics putting up an efficient 15 points, six rebounds, and two assists.

But it’s the defensive switchability that he affords Boston that will make this such a challenge.

This could be reminiscent of the matchups with the Toronto Raptors in which the Hawks, one of the best three-point shooting teams in the league at 37.5 percent (tied for second), shot just 34.4 percent in two games. They would rank 21st if they were shooting that for the entire season.

The Denver Nuggets aren’t a great three-point shooting team ranking just 14th in the NBA at 35.3 percent but Boston held them to 11-of-44 (25.0%) from downtown.

Atlanta shot 36.8 percent from deep in the first two meetings.

For what it’s worth, Collins was hitting 41.2 percent of his threes in the four games before he went down and 38.8 percent on the year. But he hit just 33.3 percent against the Celtics.

It’s also worth noting the Hawks have shot just 34.6 percent from deep over their last four outings. And that’s after shooting 17-of-33 on the longball against the Indiana Pacers.

Trae Young has averaged 19.5 points against Boston but has struggled to get there shooting just 32.4 percent from the floor and 2-of-15 from long distance.

This will require a team effort the likes of which we saw them win with a lot last season but that has been absent far too often this year. With just one game separating them and the Washington Wizards for the final play-in spot, the situation is quickly approaching critical if it isn’t already there.

They are still just 2.5 games back of the Brooklyn Nets, losers of 11 straight, and 1.5 games behind the Charlotte Hornets for ninth.