It has been more about Hawks’ porous defense than Boston Celtics’ offense

Quin Snyder’s Hawks have been completely outmatched through the first two games of the series as the Boston Celtics continue to exploit Atlanta’s lack of defensive resistance

Atlanta still has no answer. From the top to the bottom, the Hawks are simply not a sound basketball team. Landry Fields envisioned his ball club as an offensive powerhouse, but when it comes to the postseason, the emphasis is far more on the defensive side of the ball. Despite changing its game plan a little bit offensively and playing slightly better interior defense at times, Quin Snyder’s Hawks have a lot of work to do to make this a series against the Boston Celtics. Atlanta has attempted to do damage through the offensive glass, but without an ability to finish off those extra possessions, there is little hope this series will be brought back to the TD Garden.

Through 96 minutes on the parquet floor, the Boston Celtics have totaled 118 points inside the painted area, taking advantage of mismatches and a lack of help defense. Only the Miami Heat have scored more points in the interior per game than Boston in the postseason so far. Even when several of Snyder’s guards attempt to get into the air space of the C’s talented perimeter players, there is no support behind them to prevent the easy two. Joe Mazzulla’s side shot 33 or fewer 3-pointers in just nine games since he took the helm at the start of the season, and two of them are these postseason games against Atlanta.

53.7% of Boston’s points are coming from inside the arc in the first two contests of this first-round series compared to the regular season when just 44.4% of Celtics’ points came from that area. Just 37.9% of Boston’s field goal attempts have come from beyond the arc, a completely different story than what transpired through the first 82 games. It may just be less than 100 minutes into playoff basketball, but the Cs are doing exactly what they should be doing, taking what the defense gives them.

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Jayson Tatum has done that to perfection so far in this series. Just three minutes into Game 2, the Boston Celtics were in a halfcourt set, applying a staggered screen for Tatum on the wing. When he came around the corner, the former No. 3 selection saw Trae Young between him and the rim. Tatum then went right into the chest of Young and finished with his right hand.

Those are the kinds of plays where with at least one below-average defender on the floor, the Cs know exactly how to make use of it. There was little to no difference in the way the Hawks defended Boston in Game 2 compared to the first 48 minutes on Saturday. Snyder simply hoped that putting up more shots would equal out a half-court defense that is far from playoff-caliber.

The Hawks’ lack of a halfcourt defense is much larger reason for the Boston Celtics’ 2-0 series lead than the C’s offense itself

The ability of the entire team to see the mismatch in the halfcourt and almost immediately punish the Hawks for it has been the story of this series. With Boston playing a five-out offense, it makes it incredibly difficult for Atlanta to respect the shooting talent from beyond the arc while attempting to rotate over in help at the same time. There were moments in both games where Atlanta would force the Celtics into a tough two, but the next time down the floor forget that nearly everybody in green and white can knock down the 3-ball at a high percentage.

With just five seconds left on the shot clock in the second quarter of Game 1, Al Horford set an off-ball screen for Tatum at the top of the key. Marcus Smart proceeded to give a crisp pass into the C’s No. 0 as he curled in front of Saddiq Bey. With both Derrick White and Jaylen Brown in the corners as the Hawks gave respect to the 3-ball, Tatum had a free lane to the basket, putting the home team up by 17 at the time. It is tough to say if Atlanta could have done anything more on that play. If they help off either Brown or White, Tatum simply unselfishly finds one of them for a wide-open corner three.

It has never been about the lack of pressure on the ball for the Hawks in this series, it is the inconsistent communication to back up defenders that are trying their best to stay in front of Boston’s elite backcourt threats. The seven-seeded Hawks do not have the personnel whatsoever to guard the kind of players the Boston Celtics have on the offensive end for an entire 48 minutes.

It has been far too simple for Mazzulla’s men. There is nothing Snyder or any of his assistant coaches can do about it. They were second-worst in the NBA in points in the paint allowed in the regular season, so it makes sense that the trend continues into the playoffs. For the Hawks to reach the next level, they desperately need a 3-and-D-type perimeter asset, like a Luguentz Dort or an Andrew Wiggins type of player.

This is not an overnight fix, and while this is good enough to get this team to the playoffs, top-class ball clubs like Boston expose nearly every flaw that your team possesses. While the Celtics’ offense continues to run like a well-oiled machine, it is far more due to the fact that the opposition does not have enough horses to keep up in the race.