Final: Celtics 129, Hawks 121 - Brown & Tatum (with help fro Robert Williams) shut the door, take 3-1 lead

Celtics vs. Hawks 

Game 4, 7:00 p.m.

State Farm Arena, TNT, NBCS Boston

Line: Boston -6.5

Refs: Zach Zarba (#15), Tyler Ford (#39), Gediminas Petraitis (#50)

Injures: 

Boston- Gallinari (out), Smart (questionable, low back contusion). Atlanta- None 

Projected Starters

Boston: Marcus Smart, Derrick White, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford

Atlanta: Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, John Collins, De’Andre Hunter, Clint Capela

What I’m looking for:

Answering right away: The Hawks probably feel some level of confidence after Game 3, so the Celtics need to come into this game with intensity and focus. This is about executing everything they do to the best of their capabilities. As much as I expected Game 3 to go Atlanta’s way, the next page of the script calls for Boston to take that punch and respond immediately. The Hawks will make their run later, and the Celtics will have to answer that one too, but I’ll feel pretty good about my prediction if the Celtics come out of the first up something like 37-24. 

Patience: One of the biggest mistakes the Celtics made in Game 3 was being impatient on offense. I understand getting good early offense shots, but there also has to be an understanding of who the team is playing. This Atlanta defense is not good, so don’t do them any favors with quick shots. Make them make decisions and then exploit the mistakes they inevitably make. Don’t get caught up in answering these guys. The Hawks will mess up plenty, so be patient, work the offense and find easy paths to the rim to pile up easy points. 

Rebound, dammit: This is hard to do sometimes, but they have to make this a concerted effort. Keep them off the boards as much as possible and end these offensive possessions after one shot. More importantly, don’t give the Hawks three and four shots on a possession. Atlanta will inevitably get about 12-16 offensive rebounds (depending on how often they miss), but don’t let them pump that number up by giving up a bunch of looks in a row. That's a source of energy for them and it’s tiring for the Celtics. 

How I think it will go:

I think the Celtics clamp down again defensively right away and set a strong tone by forcing turnovers and making Quin Snyder call an early timeout after something like a 10-2 run. I can see the Celtics come out focused and laying the hammer down in the first quarter and the coasting a little bit. 

I bet they go into the half up comfortably, they let up in third a little bit and the lead goes down to single digits, and then they get it somewhere around 12-15 through the fourth. I can see this game ending somewhat comfortably, but not so much that anyone sits down the stretch. 

The line is Boston -6.5 and I think they clear that with room to spare. 

Follow along below or in the comments during the game, chime in, and let’s have fun.