Boston Celtics vs Atlanta Hawks Preview

The Boston Celtics will look to bounce back rom their worst loss of the season to the Brooklyn Nets in their second meeting of the season against the Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics are once again going to be without Marcus Smart and they are going to have to find a way to get back to their dominant defense without him.

The Celtics failed to generate enough turnovers and failed to contest too many shots against the Nets and if they have a repeat performance against the Hawks, then the best shooting night of their season won’t even be enough to save them.

The Celtics are gong to continue to ride Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley on the offensive end but their focus will need to be on defense, especially Bradley. Thomas has been an improved defender this year but the only guard that can approach the kind of defensive activity that Smart brings is Bradley. Bradley will need to continue to shoot the ball well but he needs to have a bigger impact on defense.

The Hawks are too good of a passing offense for the Celtics to lack the necessary defensive activity, but the good news is that the Celtics should be far from what they were against the Nets. The absence of Smart was not the only problem for the Celtics as they collectively did not approach the kind of defensive activity that we have come to expect.

The Celtics know that they are going to have to get points in transition because they are yet to prove that they can consistently win games with their shot. The Celtics may also look to tone down the volume of their three pointers. The Celtics cannot afford to have empty possessions against the Hawks and they have had success going to the inside with both their front and back court this season.

Nov 20, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder (99) reacts after his basket against the Brooklyn Nets during the second quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The Celtics attempt the third most three point attempts per game but have the seventh worse three point percentage. The Hawks are right around the league average in defending the three so the Celtics will get their opportunities from range but they cannot continue to depend on it as much as they did against the Nets.

The Celtics need to find easier ways to score and they need to get back to their transition and second chance opportunities. Offensive rebounding is another battle the Celtics lost to the Nets but that cannot be the case against the Hawks. The Hawks are going to be a much more efficient offense than the Celtics, especially with Smart out of the lineup and that means they need to get back to generating more opportunities, just like they did in their first meeting against the Hawks.

In one of the Celtics’ most impressive wins of the season the Celtics beat the Hawks by 13 points and the biggest difference was having 27 more shot attempts during the game. The Celtics still have the necessary defensive personal, even without Smart, to be one of the stronger defensive teams in the league but multiple players are going to have to step up.

The Celtics are also going to have to do a much better job of defending the paint than they did against the Nets. The Celtics are facing one of the most talented front courts in the NBA and the Celtics’ bigs may have a bigger impact on the defensive end than their guards.

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The Celtics have a great opportunity to make amends for their embarrassing loss to the Nets but it does not get much more difficult than the Hawks. The Celtics have already proven that they can beat them but they cannot expect anything to come to them easily. The Celtics did a great job of disrupting the Hawks in their first meeting and they have to once against reach that standard to have a chance.

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