Celtics at Hawks
THE STORY: Early last week, the Boston Celtics were right on the
heels of the Atlanta Hawks for the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference.
A bad weekend for Boston and a strong showing for Atlanta has the Hawks
sitting comfortable again. The Celtics, who visit Atlanta on Monday,
have not been able to find their defensive intensity on the road and
will need to slow a team that has hit the century mark in two straight.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CS New England (Celtics), SportSouth (Hawks)
ABOUT THE CELTICS (23-21):
Boston ranks toward the bottom of the league in scoring and rebounding,
so it relies heavily on a defense that is supposed to be one of the
best. That defense has taken some hits in the past two games as the
Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets have averaged 109 points in handing
the Celtics back-to-back losses. Boston is surrendering 100.6 points
through the first five games of an eight-game trip, up from its season
average of 90.9. The Celtics were shut out in their efforts to acquire
some help at the forward and center positions at the deadline and are
expected to look for a player on a buy-out.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (26-19):
Atlanta has been using a smaller lineup lately, with Joe Johnson
starting at the small forward spot and Kirk Hinrich and Jeff Teague in
the backcourt. The quicker lineup has especially helped Johnson, who is
faster than most forwards and now has less ball handling
responsibilities. Johnson scored 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting in
Sunday’s 103-87 victory at Cleveland and is averaging 28.8 points in the
last four games. The Hawks, who are only slightly better than the
Celtics in scoring average, have gone over 100 in four of the last five
games using the three-guard set.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1.
The Hawks only had 10 players available Sunday with forward Vladimir
Radmanovic (back), forward Marvin Williams (hip), guard Willie Green
(hamstring) and guard Jannero Pargo (stomach virus) all out. All four
are day-to-day.
2. Boston took two of three in the series last season but lost at Atlanta 88-83 on April 1.
3. Celtics forward Paul Pierce is nursing a sore right ankle but played 31 minutes at Denver.