Celtics at Hawks
THE STORY: The Boston Celtics are the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, but that does not assure them of home court advantage in the first round. To get that, the Celtics will have to finish with a better record than the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks, who host Boston on Friday, are one-half game up on the Celtics and lead the stumbling Orlando Magic by a game. Atlanta lost at Boston in overtime last week.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSNE (Boston), SSO (Atlanta), ESPN
ABOUT THE CELTICS (37-26): Boston is not treating Friday’s matchup as a must-win, as evidenced by the team leaving Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus home. The Celtics have already clinched the tiebreaker over the Hawks with wins in the first two meetings. Rondo got the night off on Tuesday as well and Boston still managed a 102-98 victory over the Magic. Paul Pierce picked up the slack at point guard with 14 assists to go along with his 29 points. Pierce and Kevin Garnett could have their minutes limited in the final week, though both are expected to play Friday. Rondo led the Celtics to the 88-86 win over Atlanta last week with 10 points, 20 assists and 10 rebounds while Garnett chipped in 22 points and 12 boards.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (37-25): Atlanta was primarily a defensive team for most of the season, winning by forcing opponents to play their style. This month the Hawks have broken out offensively, averaging 111.8 points in six April wins. They put together one of the more lopsided games of the season on Wednesday in a 116-84 thrashing of the Detroit Pistons. Atlanta, which faced only two playoff teams in its first eight games this month, ends its campaign with four straight against teams that will play in the postseason, though it is lucky enough to get all four at home.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Boston has won in two of its last three trips to Atlanta.
2. The Celtics will reportedly waive C Jermaine O’Neal and sign free-agent C Sean Williams.
3. Hawks C Al Horford (torn pectoral) has returned to practice and should be ready for the playoffs.