Preview: Boston Celtics at Atlanta Hawks Game One

The Celtics open up the playoffs on Saturday night in Atlanta as they take on the Hawks in the first round

The wait is over. NBA basketball is back with a full slate of games on Saturday. Arguably the most intriguing game of the bunch features the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks at 7ET on ESPN. The two teams are very familiar with each other as they matched up four times in the regular season – Atlanta winning three of them. Both teams also come into the postseason with identical records, however, the Celtics are by far the more inexperienced group.

Boston reached the postseason last season, however, was swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Hawks made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last season before getting swept by Cleveland.

The Celtics come into the postseason winning their final regular season game against the Miami Heat, while Atlanta lost their final two games. With that being said, these two teams played last week and Atlanta cruised to an easy victory. The Hawks ended up taking the game 118-107, although the score doesn’t do justice to the second half Atlanta played.

Paul Millsap was a monster this whole season against Boston, although he took his game to the next level in their last meeting. He torched the Celtics for 31 points, 16 rebounds, and five blocks on the night. The all-star power forward is having his best season since joining the Hawks and will be the main focus when Boston is on defense.

Jared Sullinger and Amir Johnson will have their hands full once again with Millsap and his all-star teammate Al Horford. The slow pace that Atlanta prefers allows them to get the ball inside to their big men and attack the Celtics’ biggest weakness. Just because Atlanta likes to work the ball inside doesn’t mean their frontcourt is a pushover by any means.

Jeff Teague has picked up his play in the second half and Kent Bazemore is having a nice, surprising season for Atlanta. With Dennis Schroder coming off the bench, it should be a great point guard matchup all night. Marcus Smart is one of the best defensive guards in the league and is used heavily off the bench for the Celtics. In the starting lineup, Isaiah Thomas has continued to prove why he was an all-star this season and should be motivated to improve his 6-19 shooting that occurred in their last meeting with Atlanta.

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This is going to be a chess match between these two coaches. Brad Stevens and the Celtics will try to speed the pace up to create more shots and avoid the tough half-court defense the Atlanta Hawks present. It would also force Millsap and Horford to play faster and would force the game towards the perimeter rather than near the basket.

These two teams match up as well as any two teams in the playoffs this year. Both have great coaches and are led by all-star caliber players. The speed of the game will determine whether the Celtics are able to get into their game on offense. Slowing down Millsap will be the key to winning, and with the defense Boston showed in the second half against the Heat, that is possible.

Next: Three Keys to First Round Matchup vs Atlanta

Playoff basketball is back and the Celtics have a chance at making some noise this year. Get ready for Game One of a hard-fought, grind it out battle between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks.

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