Game 36/82: Atlanta (23-13) @ C’s (26-9)
Posted by Brian Robb on Jan 11, 2010
Atlanta at Boston
7:30 p.m. EST
TD Garden
Local TV/Radio: CSN/WEEI
Opposing viewpoint: Hoopinion
Offensive Efficiency:
Boston: 109 points/100 possessions (10th)
Atlanta: 111 points/100 possessions (3rd)
Defensive Efficiency:
Boston: 101.2 points allowed/100 possessions (2nd)
Atlanta: 105.8 points allowed/100 possessions (12th)
Probable Atlanta Starters:
Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Al Hortford
Injury Report
Atlanta: None
Boston: OUT: Marquis Daniels, Kevin Garnett
Thumbnail: The C’s will once again be seeing a familiar foe tonight, coming off a loss just 2 nights earlier against the Hawks. Zach Lowe previewed the Hawks just last Friday with a great Q and A with Bret LaGree, author of the Hawks blog Hoopinion. Be sure to check out that back and forth conversation here. In the meantime, here is a quick refresher on the Hawks that have owned the C’s lately.
WHAT THE HAWKS DO WELL:
All Around Offense
There are many things the Hawks do well on the offensive end of the floor, shown by their top notch ranking in offensive efficiency. Like the Celtics, they have 5 starters capable of putting up 20 points on any given night, so it’s very difficult to keep their numbers down A few of the highlights of their production:
*Fewest turnovers in the league per game
*9th in FG Shooting Percentage
*7th in 3pt FG Shooting Percentage
*11th in offensive rebounding
Beating the Celtics
Going 2-0 against the Green thus far this year, Atlanta has proven they can play with the big boys. Their youth and athleticism makes them a tough matchup for the Green. A 3rd win tonight though would be a big indicator of whether Atlanta has Boston’s number this year.
WHAT THE HAWKS DO POORLY
Getting to the Line
For a team that is so good offensively, they sure find other ways to do it besides getting to the charity stripe. Ranking 24th in the league in FT attempts this year, they have no player they can count on getting to the line on a consistent basis, with Josh Smith leading the pack at just 4.9 free throw attempts per game.
Defending the 3 ball
Atlanta is currently 27th in the league in opponent 3 point FG percentage, allowing team to shoot 37.4 percent from deep this year. The C’s have yet to make Atlanta pay in this department in their 2 games this year, but coming off a hot shooting performance yesterday in Toronto, the troops may be in position to keep it up tonight.
PLAYERS WHO MAKES ME WORRY
Josh Smith
I don’t worry so much about his play as a whole, since I still find him to be an inconsistent offensive player but the matchup tonight against Rasheed scares me if Friday night was any indicator. Smith is an athletic freak and Sheed doesn’t have the ability to keep the guy in front of him. Hopefully he learns from his mistakes, if not look for Smith to take advantage going off of a terrible performance in Orlando Saturday.
PLAYERS WHO DO NOT MAKE ME WORRY
The rest of the Atlanta bench outside of Jamal Crawford
These guys haven’t done much this year and really lack the offensive firepower to give the C’s any real problems. Jeff Teague has shown flashes, but is still a rookie. Maurice Evans and Joe Smith? Meh. Zaza is the one guy who has shown some fire against the C’s in previous games but he hasn’t been getting enough minutes lately (13.8/game in last 10) to be much of a factor.
WHAT WE WANT TO SEE FROM THE C’S TONIGHT
Help from the Bench
This is the C’s 3rd game in 4 nights. In the previous two games, the C’s bench have only played 80 minutes altogether, causing Doc to rely heavily on the starters, especially Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen. Now I don’t blame Doc totally here, since the bench has done little to show Doc he can afford to keep them in there tomorrow lately. Tonight though, with TA hopefully back to full health, I’d like to see some consistent production from Eddie, Big Baby and TA to push the C’s over the top and help keep the starters fresh, down the stretch.
PREDICTION
My reverse jinx worked perfectly yesterday in picking the Raptors, so I’m tempted to go with the Hawks again here to ride the hot streak. Given that the C’s have lost two to these guys all ready and Atlanta looks to be having their own problems lately (4-6 in last 10, 33 point loss in Orlando Saturday) I gotta go with the C’s to rebound from their Friday night loss.
Celtics 99, Hawks 94
The Ticker