Final: Celtics 112, Hawks 99 - Celtics defense holds off late Hawks charge

Celtics vs. Hawks 

Game 1, 3:30 p.m.

TD Garden, ESPN, NBCS Boston

Line: Boston -10

Refs: David Guthrie (#16), Bill Kennedy (#55), Ben Taylor (#46)

Injures: 

Boston- Gallinari (out). 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:

Rebounding: The Hawks are going to crash the boards and crash hard. The Celtics are going to have to keep Atlanta from piling up the second chances, which Joe Mazzulla is very well aware of. When asked how often he’d be mentioning rebounding in the pregame meeting, he said “more than the four times you just said it in that question.” 

So when a shot goes up, the key will be which team is more focused on grabbing the rebound instead of watching the ball. Will the Celtics grab it and get out into transition? Will the Hawks grab it and get themselves another opportunity? Whichever team commits is the team that will get it.

“Everybody watches the ball. Coaches do it, players do it, you guys do it, fans do it, because you want to see what’s going to happen,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “Usually once the ball is shot, you don’t have any control over whether it goes in, you have control over the next play. I think mentally, being able to make that transition to the next play, whether it’s getting the rebound or getting back on defense.”

Focus: Everyone’s big fear in this series is that Boston sees the opening line of Celtics by 10 and they come out too cool. What I want to see is all that be put aside and forget who the opponent is in a way. Obviously stick to the game plan, but respect the opponent as a team that can beat you. The best way to show a team respect, in my opinion, is to play them with a healthy fear of losing; to respect the possibility that they will beat you if you don’t play the right way.

Attacking Trae: The Celtics will target him relentlessly, but I don’t want to see them overdo it. The key is to keep him in the actions and make him make multiple decisions. Yes, it’s about getting Tatum on Young and beating that matchup. But it is also about making the Hawks cover for Young over and over and over again as the ball moves, opening up holes that anyone on Boston can attack. That will be more demoralizing to the Hawks. 

How I think it will go:

A lot of people think this is the game to catch Boston napping, but I think that's wrong. This is Game 1 of the playoffs, they're well-rested, and they’ve been getting hammered with “playing down to opponents” questions all week. This is the game where they toss a middle finger to the media and come out with an expressed purpose of destroying the overmatched Hawks. 

And that's what I think will happen. We can talk about Game 2 on Tuesday, because I think that's the more likely letdown game, but today, I have the Boston Celtics flexing a lot of muscle. I think we’re looking at significant garbage time today, and an easy 20+ point win. 

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