Final: Hawks 123, Celtics 122 - Too many second chances kill Boston

BOSTON CELTICS at ATLANTA HAWKS

7:30 p.m. - NBCS Boston/NBA TV

Line: Boston - 10.5

INJURIES

Boston: Jrue Holiday (QUESTIONABLE AVAILABLE, shoulder), Al Horford (QUESTIONABLE OUT, toe), Xavier Tillman (QUESTIONABLE AVAILABLE, knee), Jaden Springer (QUESTIONABLE OUT, knee)

Atlanta: Dejounte Murray (QUESTIONABLE, back), Trae Young (OUT, finger), Saddiq Bey (OUT, ACL), Jalen Johnson (OUT, ankle), Onyeka Okongwu (OUT, toe), Kobe Bufkin (OUT, toe), AJ Griffin (OUT, ankle), Mouhamed Gueye (OUT, knee)    

LAST TIME

Hawks 120, Celtics 118 - March 25

Boston started big, with Jayson Tatum essentially serving as the point guard, and it worked. Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis led a first-quarter double-up, 44-22. The lead ballooned to 30 in the second but a late Hawks run cut it to 18 at the half. Then Atlanta came out hot and extended the run to 30-7, making it a three-point game, but Payton Pritchard turned it on in the third to hold onto the lead. The Hawks kept coming, getting blistering hot from 3 while the Celtics missed everything and fell apart trying to slow the game down.

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Revenge! Okay maybe revenge isn’t the best word for it, but I’d like to see them get back out there, get another huge lead, and this time just send a message that “this is what happens when we play the full 48” … which might be a full 28 because they’ve built a lead out to 50. Bottom line: Don’t let up. 

2. The starting lineup: It looks like Holiday might be a go? If he is, this will be the first time the regular starters have played since the loss to Denver on March 7. It’s been a while. I want to see them get some of their continuity and chemistry back (not like it left or anything, but I want to see it in action). 

3. Bench action: I’m dying to see more of Tillman, provided his knee allows for it. I want to see these guys get minutes with the real rotation, not just minutes when guys are. Those are obviously valuable, but it’s more valuable to see them in what might be their playoff situations. 

Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.