Final: Celtics 107, Hawks 98 - Celtics D clamps down in 2nd half

GAME 64
Boston Celtics (36-27, 20-11 home, 6th East) vs. Atlanta Hawks (29-31, 11-18 road, 9th East)
TD Garden
7:30 PM - TNT

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 SHOULD KNOW

- No injuries for Boston.

- Lou Williams (hip) and John Collins (foot) are out for Atlanta.

- Atlanta is 2-1 vs. Boston this season, so the Celtics need this one to eliminate the head-to-head tiebreaker … just in case.

- The Celtics are favored by 6.5

GOING A LITTLE DEEPER

- Derrick White still getting up to speed

When the Celtics traded for Derrick White, a lot was made of him coming from the same system where Ime Udoka started his coaching career. But Ime Udoka also had stops in Philadelphia and Brooklyn, and he also has his own ideas about how things should go. So while things are familiar, they're not the same. 

“It’s similar,” White said after the team’s Tuesday shootaround. “Obviously differences from team to team, but you see what he took from his time in San Antonio, both playing and coaching. It definitely made the transition a lot easier. You definitely see the similarities in what we’re going here and the stuff we did back in San Antonio.”

The Celtics will need White to be a big contributor in a lot of different areas if they're going to be at their best. That means him getting comfortable quickly. 

“Some games are different, just trying to get used to the guys, the system and everything,” he said. “I’m not too worried about how I’m going to adjust and fit in. We’ve got 19 games left, and that will give me a lot of time to get comfortable with the guys and get ready for the playoffs.”

White is also getting adjusted to a bench role. He has been a starter for the past three seasons in San Antonio, so this is new for him.

“It’s a little bit of an adjustment to come off the bench rather than start, but I’ve come off the bench before, so just trying to get back to that mindset,” He said. “Just get more comfortable as the games go on and while I’m out there just do what I do and try to help the team win.”

THREE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. A good start: One hallmark of the C’s winning streak was jumping all over teams early and snuffing out their will to play hard. They’ve gotten away from that recently, so the team is emphasizing coming out strong, especially defensively.

“I think teams have been too comfortable,” Udoka said. “In Detroit and Indiana the starts weren't the best. I think it was too easy, we lacked physicality on the defensive end early, got these teams very comfortable and that's what we talked about today. We've had a nice progression guarding Atlanta over the three games, and guarded them better each game so obviously we have to carry that over to tonight, especially after the last two. So focus on that end and it will translate to offense for sure.”

2. Making Trae Young one-dimensional: Defending Young is a challenge for everyone. The key to guarding him is to make him a scorer-only and cut him off from killing you with his passing. 

“I think our physicality has gone up with them, our understanding of how to guard him and keeping bodies on him and size, that's improved,” Udoka said. “He had 30 points but 26 shots last game so we actually defended him pretty well. And then the others, a lot of times we let Bogdanovic or Heurter get going at home in the first few games, and Gallinari, I think they hurt us in the post and going into game 3, we wanted to up our physicality and kind of take away some of these post ups. And I think we did a great job of that. But it all starts with Trae Young.”

3. Bench contribution: Bogdan Bogdanovic dropped 26 on Boston off the bench in the last game. He’s a potent scorer, so Boston will have to be aware of him on the floor and hope to minimize his shooting. Can White, Grant Williams, and Payton Pritchard give the Celtics enough scoring to counterbalance Bogdanovic’s impact?

GAME THREAD

Stick around for more comments below as the game goes on. Feel free to add your two cents in the comments.