Final: Celtics 105, Hawks 95 - C's ride dominant 3rd quarter to 8th straight win

GAME 58
Boston Celtics (32-25, 19-10 home, T-7th East) vs. Atlanta Hawks (26-29, 10-16 road, 10th East)
TD Garden
2:00 PM - ABC
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS

Boston: Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Robert Williams

Atlanta: Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter, Danilo Gallinari, Clint Capela

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

- Daniel Theis hasn’t been cleared to play for Boston due to the pending trade. “Some things need to be finalized with the trade,”Ime Udoka said.

- John Collins (foot) is out for the Hawks.

- Boston is favored by 7.5. That's the 3rd-largest point spread for the Hawks as an underdog this season.

GOING A LITTLE DEEPER

- Atlanta, Boston’s last loss, presents some issues. 

Boston has won seven games in a row, but their loss to the Hawk late last month prevented it from being 10.

“Offensively is where we've not been our best against them,” Udoka said. “15-point 4th quarter, that's obviously (not) like we should have been in the game, but in general our offense has been a little stagnant against them.”

Part of the issue has been poor recognition around the rim. The Celtics haven't been able to effectively challenge Atlanta’s shot blockers. 

“We had 11 shots blocked against them last game, and didn't find our dump offs and our outlets, and I think we got better at that in the second half,” Udoka said. “Offensively, they're a really good transition offensive team, and I think our defense, turnovers, we had 24 in that game for 18 points, fueled their offense, and a bad shot is as good as a turnover against these guys and they really capitalized on that, so we can improve in that area for sure.”

Tatum is shooting 64.8% for the season in the restricted area, but he’s shooting 82.4% there during the winning streak. He’s 7-14 (50%) against the Hawks. He’s going to be the key to fixing this if the streak is to continue. In that loss to Atlanta, Tatum was able to make the moves to get to the rim, but he was met there by one of the Hawks’ shot blockers and it turned into transition opportunities. He either needs to find a way to finish, or find his passing options (and teammates need to present themselves).

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. Trae Young’s passing: Much like Nikola Jokic, Young is at his most dangerous when he’s not only scoring, but racking up assists. The Celtics need to be smart about when or if they double and not over-help. This is especially true of Robert Williams, who can’t get caught up in trying to block Young’s shots when a bigger player is making it tough on Young. If he makes it, he makes it. If he misses, be in position to get the rebound. 

2. The inexplicable Gallinari explosion: For the love of God please keep this guy contained. The last thing the Celtics need after playing good defense on Young is to have Gallo bury a couple of kick outs. When he starts feeling it, he can be a killer.

3. Continuing the ball movement: This kind of runs in conjunction with the shot blocking issue. The Celtics ran some beautiful offense against Denver with multiple attacks and paint touches. A few of those became lobs, which shows how not settling, pulling the defense out of position, and cutting in the chaos can lead to easy baskets. 

GAME THREAD

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