Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics Game 7 5/4

[FLCeltsFan]

at
Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics
Series tied 3-3
Round 1 Game #7
ABC TV 1:00 PM ET
TD Banknorth Garden



Probable Starting Lineup
PG Rajon Rondo PPG 12.6 RPG 4.20 APG 8.0 EFF + 19.60
SG Ray Allen PPG 17.2 RPG 3.00 APG 3.6 EFF + 16.00
SF Paul Pierce PPG 17.4 RPG 4.60 APG 4.8 EFF + 17.40
PF Kevin Garnett PPG 21.4 RPG 8.80 APG 3.6 EFF + 24.80
C Kendrick Perkins PPG 5.8 RPG 6.00 APG 0.4 EFF + 10.80


Off the Bench
Eddie House, James Posey, Leon Powe, Big Baby Davis, Tony Allen, PJ Brown, Sam Cassell, Brian Scalabrine, Gabe Pruitt

Injury Report
Scot Pollard, ankle, out




Probable Starting Lineup
PG Mike Bibby PPG 10.6 RPG 2.40 APG 2.6 EFF + 6.60
SG Joe Johnson PPG 21.8 RPG 4.00 APG 4.4 EFF + 18.40
SF Marvin Williams PPG 11.0 RPG 3.40 APG 0.6 EFF + 8.40 **
PF Josh Smith PPG 18.4 RPG 7.00 APG 3.2 EFF + 21.80
C Al Horford PPG 12.8 RPG 11.20 APG 3.6 EFF + 20.60
** Marvin Williams sprained his knee in game 6 and so may not be able to play. His status is questionable but the coach has said he believes that he will play. Childress will probably get the start if he can't go.

Off the Bench:
Josh Childress, Zaza Pachulia, Salim Stoudamire, Mario West, Jeremy Richardson, Solomon Jones, Acie Law

Injuries
Speedy Claxton, knee, out
Marvin Williams, knee, questionable

Key Matchups

Rajon Rondo vs Mike Bibby
Rondo played just 28 minutes in game 6 in Atlanta and seemed to struggle at times. The Celtics need him to have a strong game because they are a better team when he is on the court.

vs
Kevin Garnett vs Josh Smith
The Celtics have missed a large number of layups because they rush them since they are so concerned with Smith's shot blocking. KG has to keep Smith off the glass and he must make Smith work on the defensive end by being aggressive offensively.

Honorable Mention
Doc Rivers vs Mike Woodson
Doc's decisions in game 6 have been called into question and if the Celtics should do the unthinkable and lose this game, Doc may be gone. Mike Woodson has been on the hot seat all season and has also been questioned about some of his decisions. Rotations and coaching decisions may come into play in this game and the coach who makes the wrong ones may be out of a job when the series is over.

Keys to the Game
Rebounding When the celtics out rebound the Hawks they win and when they don't, they lose. Once again, they were out rebounded in game 6, allowing the Hawks to get second and third chance shots. Much of rebounding is effort and desire and when both of those are there, they get the rebounds and they out play the Hawks.

Defense The Celtics can't try to outscore the Hawks because they found out in games 3 and 4 and 6 that doesn't work. They have to play the tough defense that they played all season and in games 1,2 and 5 in order to win. No defense = no win.

Be Aggressive The Celtics need to continue to be aggressive in taking the ball to the basket and in diving for loose balls and crashing the boards. In game 6 they once again became tentative and settled for jumpers instead of taking the ball to the hoop. By being more aggressive and driving to the hoop rather than settling for quick jumpers, they will either get a high percentage shot or draw the foul and getting the Hawks into foul trouble pays dividends because they have a limited bench.

Officiating In the first 6 games, the Hawks have had 204 free throws to 133 free throws for the Celtics . That is 71 more free throws for the Hawks. This is ridiculous. Granted the Celtics haven't driven to the hoop as much as the Hawks, but there has also been a lot of touch fouls called on the Celtics while the Hawks have gotten away with a lot of contact that wasn't called. Two of the offensive fouls called on Pierce in game 6 were terrible calls and the 6th foul on him was worse than terrible. In that sense, the officiating influenced the results of that game. We can only hope that the officials will call game 7 fairly.

X-Factor
Bench Play. The Hawks basically have two players off their bench in Pachulia and Childress and they out played the Celtics entire bench in game 6. The Celtics need the bench to step up and produce when the starters get a rest.

Game Notes The Hawks have a link on their website to purchase round 2 tickets. That may be the equivalent of Tommy's story about the Lakers having the champagne and balloons ready to celebrate on their court and the Celtics determined to win because of it.

The Celtics must get their team defense back. How the Celtics could be the best defensive team in the league during the regular season, winning big games both on the road and at home with their defense and then completely forget how to play defense on the road in the playoffs is beyond me.

The Celtics are the only team to have to go to a game 7. Every other top seed closed their series out in 4, 5 or 6 games. If the Celtics do get past the Hawks (which I expect them to do), their struggles with the Hawks have to give their future opponents more confidence that they can beat the Celtics since they have shown decided weaknesses so far in the playoffs.

[FLCeltsFan]

The Hawks are having people sign up for Round 2 tickets already. That is a bit premature unless the refs have told them something the Celtics don't know yet. This reminds me of 1969 when the Celtics were an aging team that struggled somewhat during the regular season. They made it to the finals against the Lakers who were overwhelmingly favored to win the title. The Lakers figured that it was a done deal with game seven in their building. Bill Russell found a program detailing the Lakers planned celebration, including lots of balloons suspended by nets from the ceiling to be released after the certain victory. The champaign was opened and ready. Russell passed this information on to his teammates, who were all offended by the Lakers presuming that they would win the game without question. The Celtics proceeded to win the game and the championship. Someone moved the champaign to the visitors locker room and at least it didn't go to waste. So, the Hawks are taking reservations for Round 2 tickets. Let's hope this version of the Celtics react in the same way.

I can't begin to tell you how nervous I am for this game. After all those years of saying "Wait until next year," next year was finally here and I don't want to have to wait until next year again!!!! Go Celtics!!!

Defense and rebounding are going to be key. When the Celtics play defense and when they win the rebounding war, they win the game. When they slack off on the boards and on defense they lose. Plain and simple.

[afceltic]

[quote
Defense and rebounding are going to be key. When the Celtics play defense and when they win the rebounding war, they win the game. When they slack off on the boards and on defense they lose. Plain and simple. [/quote]

Powe needs a lot of PT today, he has been our best offensive rebounder. I hope Doc is smart enough to ride that horse until it collapses. But with Doc you never know.

[cfoo]

C"s need to get their head out of their !!!GREENIAC!!! today and shove the ball down their throats. We aren't used to playoff basketball and we aren't playing every posession like it matters. It's like we are playing games like the regular season and expecting to get stops and score instead of getting stops and scoring.

[The Eye of the Q is upon you!]

I can't believe I am here watching a local church show waiting for game 7 and praying for Doc Rivers. I'm on call for work today and all the cell phones and telephones are unplugged. I mustn't be bothered in the next three hours.

Good luck.

[The Eye of the Q is upon you!]

No negativity is allowed. The Celtics will win today. I promise.

[FLCeltsFan]

Well, Q, you have never steered me wrong so I will take your word for it. I am still as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

[FLCeltsFan]

We are letting them get too many rebounds and we aren't being aggressive enough on defense. I hope they settle down and get back to basics.

[CelticsLoyalist]

So far so good.

[The Eye of the Q is upon you!]

Q at the qtr - Perkins stood tall at both ends of the court. He was the difference maker out there.

[FLCeltsFan]

I love Perk.... what a beast in the first 8 points 6 rebounds and 2 blocks....

[CelticsLoyalist]

3 more qtrs like that.

[The Eye of the Q is upon you!]

Now it is Powe's turn along with PJ and Dr Suess (Sam Cassell) to shine.

Muscle and Hustle, FL

[CelticsLoyalist]

We do have a bench and Atl has none to speak of except Childress. Gotta exploit them and keep getting fouls. JSmith has got 2 and so does Zaza.

[cfoo]

Keep going to the basket. There is no reason why atlanta has gotten to the line more than us this series. The rebounding is better. Cassel isnt the fastest guy int he world but I still hate how we seem to slow to a crawl when he comes in. Good job of him at least trying to be aggresive and trying to run though. We've lost some of our aggressiveness over the past 5 minutes and need to step it back up.