Previewing Games 3 and 4 in Atlanta: Not cut and dry for Boston Celtics

Joe Mazzulla’s Boston Celtics head on the road with a 2-0 series lead over the seven-seeded Atlanta Hawks as they eye for their second consecutive first-round sweep

Equipped with the second-best road record in the association during the regular season, the Boston Celtics travel nearly 1,080 miles south to attempt to close out their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks. Except for maybe two quarters, Boston has found this series to be a cakewalk so far. Never once has this team looked out of control of the ball game. Even with the Hawks cutting the lead to single digits at times, the C’s relentlessness pushes it back up. In everything but the offensive glass, Joe Mazzulla’s side has out-classed a team that looks many levels below them.

From October to early April, Boston shot over 42.5 threes per game. Through the first 96 minutes of the postseason, the Cs have shot just 66. It is a testament to the adaptability of this ball club. Whatever the weakness is, Mazzulla’s men have the personnel at every position to take advantage of it. With nobody but Danilo Gallinari on the injury report heading into Game 3, Boston has its eyes set on continuing the obliteration of the Hawks in the paint on their own home floor.

For Atlanta to get back into this series, it is going to take a lot more than just simply knocking down shots. Quinn Snyder reinvented his team’s style of play in Game 2, informing his ball club to take 48 threes instead of the 29 in the first 48 minutes of the series. Taking care of the basketball and finishing off those extra possessions is paramount for the Hawks to compete with a determined Boston side.

Their hope is that a return down south will provide them with a chance to force the series back to the TD Garden. Snyder’s team heads back to the confines of the State Farm Arena where his Hawks have been much more successful compared to when on the road. During the regular season, Atlanta was tied for 12th in the NBA for best home record at 24-17 along with the impressive Oklahoma City Thunder.

Boston has not won a postseason meeting with the Hawks in Georgia since Game 2 of the sides’ 2012 playoff series. The Cs needed a 36-point, 14-rebound display by Paul Pierce to rebound for a Game 1 loss as Doc Rivers’ team eventually took the series in six games. While many people may not think of Hot ‘Lanta as the toughest place to play in the NBA, the 17-time champions have struggled mightily in the Peach State in the past. Dating back to the 1972 Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Boston Celtics are 6-15 in Atlanta in the postseason, losing seven out of the last nine meetings there.

The Boston Celtics must keep their foot on the gas if they are going to finish off the seven-seeded Atlanta Hawks without returning home

Although past records have no influence on this season’s Boston Celtics, this should inform the green and white that the job is not quite done yet. In the 2008 championship run, Boston posted a 31-10 road record during the regular season but ended up going to seven games with the Hawks due to the team’s inability to win on the road. No matter how comfortable a ball club gets, playoff basketball will always find a way to humble any talented team. Mazzulla’s team has not been on the road since April 4 in Philadelphia but has not won away from the TD Garden since March 30 in the infamous blowout win at the Fiserv Forum.

After the one-seeded Miami Heat rolled through Atlanta in the first two games of their seven-game series in the first round last year, the Hawks found a way to edge the top-seed in the East by a point in their first game back at home. All signs may be pointing for a sweep by the Cs, but given the history that Trae Young and Atlanta have in the postseason, they are not going to accept elimination without some sort of fight. The Hawks, as a franchise, have not been swept in the first round of the NBA playoffs since 1995 when Reggie Miller erased Lenny Wilkens’ side in three quick games.

No matter far these two sides looked from each other in the first two contests, history tells us that this series is far from over. While losing a game down south is not the end of the world, extra rest ahead of the Eastern Conference semifinals could benefit them as the other first-round series’ conclude. In the previous three times, this franchise advanced past the first round of the postseason, they have swept the opposition en route to the NBA’s final eight.

This group seems to be locked in both on and off the court, but every good team has its lapses. Game 3 is vitality important for Boston. 3-0 shuts the door, while 2-1 presents the Hawks with an opportunity to pounce. Everyone wants to move on to an opponent that actually challenges the Boston Celtics, but history tells us there is plenty more competitive basketball to be played before a victor is determined.