Final: Celtics 125, Hawks 117 - Porzingis drops 31 as C's hold off pesky Hawks

BOSTON CELTICS vs. ATLANTA HAWKS

7:30 p.m., NBCS Boston

Line: Boston -11.5

INJURIES

Boston: Jrue Holiday (OUT, elbow). 

Atlanta: Clint Capela (OUT, adductor), Mouhamed Gueye (OUT, back), Dejounte Murray (QUESTIONABLE, back)

LAST TIME

Celtics 113, Hawks 103 - November 26

The Celtics lost an early lead but rebuilt it thanks to 10 early Jayson Tatum points. He added 11 in the second to build the lead up to 17, but it could have been more had Boston defended the 3-point line better. That really hurt them in the third when Bogdan Bogdanovic went 4-5 from deep to cut a 20 point lead to 6. Boston recovered to go back up double digits in the fourth, and Tatum’s 13 points in the quarter helped hold off a last Atlanta push.

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Keep it rolling: People are still pissed about the loss to the Lakers. If Murray sits out tonight and the Celtics struggle to get past the Hawks, then that simmering distaste will bubble right back up. The Celtics quelled a bit of it with their easy win over Memphis, so let’s keep this roll going, attack the weak Hawks defense, put Trae Young in a blender, and cruise. 

2. Get those shots up: Limit their second shots, grab the boards, and push the pace.

“I think the big test for us tonight is shot margin,” Joe Mazzulla said before the game. “We were plus-seven in shot margin in game one, we held them to 11 offensive rebounds, and we kept them off the free throw line, and we turned them over 16 times.”

3. Attack the rim: The Hawks are not going to provide much resistance in general, and with Capela out, there will be opportunities to get all the way to the hoop. Take those opportunities to build the early lead. You can fire from 3 later. 

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.