Celtics vs. Hawks First Round Playoff Recap
Game 1: Boston 104, Atlanta 81
Al Horford burst onto the playoff scene with 20 points and 10 rebounds in his first career postseason game, but with 6 players in double digits, the Celts easily handled the Hawks in this first matchup. Not to be outdone, Kevin Garnett (16 points, 10 rebounds) recorded his 40th career double-double in his first playoff appearance in four years. Speaking of KG, you can really see how excited he is to be in this postseason with this Celtics squad... and if you weren't sure about his dedication or just how pumped up he is, I present Exhibit A. Awesome intensity, although I don't think Leon Powe shared that sentiment. Rajon Rondo narrowly missed a double-double of his own (15 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds) en route to one of the best games he's played in his young career. Powe (10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks) logged more minutes than Kendrick Perkins (3 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks); don't be surprised to see that trend continue in this series. As a team, the Celts played tight defense all game (although they need to come up with an answer for Horford) and they had 5 players with 2 offensive boards, a good sign for a team that's relatively weak in that category.
Game 2: Boston 96, Atlanta 77
Maybe I gave the the Hawks too much credit by singing their very few praises in my Round 1 Playoff Preview; after watching this game, I've come to learn that they're not much more than a bunch of bullies, punks and whiners, as evidenced by Mike Bibby's trashing of Boston fans, Al Horford's badgering directed at the Celtics bench and Joe Johnson's excessively hard foul on Paul Pierce. Props to the fans chanting "Where is Bibby?" when he wasn't on the floor. To quote Jim Rome, "Hi-larious." The Celts continued to roll with 5 players in double digits (led by KG with 19) and held Horford to just 9 points on 4-for-9 shooting. KG recorded another double-double and was the central figure in one of the coolest sequences of the season: after nailing a 24-foot trey (take a second to let that sink in... KG hit a 3-pointer... in the playoffs, no less), KG hustled back to block a layup attempt by Horford; then, after a Marvin Williams offensive rebound, KG drew a charging foul from Horford. What can I say, the guy does it all. A key to the Celts' success tonight was their ability to turn the ball over. The C's out-stole the Hawks 15 to 4 with Rondo and Glen "Big Baby" Davis combining for 7 takeaways. One thing to keep an eye on in the upcoming games: fouls and free throws. The Hawks got to the line 40 times tonight, while the Celts only made 26 appearances on the stripe.
Game 3: Boston 93, Atlanta 102
Josh Smith (27 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) put the Hawks on his back and spoiled an excellent effort from Garnett (32 points and 10 rebounds). All the Hawks starters were in double digits in points and Horford owned the boards with a game-high 14 rebounds. Aside from the whole losing deal, there were several things to dislike in this one: First, the officiating was pretty terrible. The Celts finished with 23 fouls as a team (only 3 more than the Hawks), but said fouls came at the most inopportune times and seemed to be "hometown" calls, at least on a couple of occasions. Second, the Celts had 9 combined steals/blocks after averaging 15.5 over the first two games. The 15 steals from Game 2 are very much on the high side and would be difficult to replicate night-in and night-out, but as little as two or three more steals/blocks would have helped out a lot in a 9 point game. Lastly, Ray Allen forgot how to score in the second half and couldn't hit a shot in moderate traffic to save his life. His final numbers (13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) were respectable, but he didn't score a single point in either the third or fourth quarters. On the positive side, Rondo called Monday's Game 4 a "must win," so it's nice to see that they're still hungry.
Game 4: Boston 92, Atlanta 97
This one got out of hand in a hurry. The Celts once sported a 13 point lead in the first half but let that lead become an 8 point deficit at the time of the guadruple-technical-foul about midway through the 2nd quarter (which, while we're on this topic, was absolute BS because Zaza Pachulia was draped over KG's shoulder and after Garnett's infraction, proceeded to head-butt KG, which went unpunished); more terrible officiating down in the A-T-L. Ray Allen turned in a terrific individual performance (21 point and 5 assists), but it wasn't enough to overcome the 63 combined points put up by Josh Smith and Joe Johnson. Things looked to be coming together for the C's in the third quarter (which was helped by the fact that officials called only 3 fouls on them) as they outscored the Hawks by 13, but everything fell apart in the fourth as the Celts were on the wrong side of a 15 point differential. Remember how I told you to keep your eye on free throws and fouls? Well the Celts got to the line just 18 times tonight; the Hawks, on the other hand, went 29-for-33 in freebies. On a side note, did you hear the Cheers theme playing at one point? Why would you play the theme song of a show that is inexorably connected to the city of Boston to pump up Hawks fans? I guess we shouldn't criticize, though, because most of these young Hawks are new at the whole postseason thing.
Game 5: Boston 110, Atlanta 85
This was just what we needed, an anxiety-free, blowout victory. Captain Paul Pierce led the way with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists and was one of six Celtics to finish in double digits. Ray Allen went 5-for-8 from three point range and finished with 19 points, while Powe and Sam Cassell came off the bench to combine for 23 points. Everything was clicking tonight, except for the play of Kendrick Perkins. Perk finished with just 2 points and 4 rebounds in 22 minutes, but with Leon spelling him occasionally at center , they didn't need big production from the big guy. To reference Tommy Heinsohn, there were a couple "I love Leon!" moments as Powe drew two huge charges within two minutes of each other in the first quarter to keep the Hawks from gaining any type of momentum. Horford nabbed another double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds but the surprisingly poor play of Mike Bibby (6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist) and a lack of depth is really sinking this team's chances. Any lingering concerns over Ray Allen and his lack of late production from Game 3 were squashed when he nailed three 3-pointers in a 3 minute span in the 3rd.
Game 6: Boston 100, Atlanta 103
When did "have trouble winning on the road" become an appropriate description of the 2007-08 Boston Celtics? After this Game 6 loss, that's when. For whatever reason, the Celts are having a very tough time playing fundamentally sound basketball in crunch time. Pierce scored 11 of his 17 points in the 1st quarter and Perk finished with 14 points, but the Hawks proved to be too much to handle with 6 players in double digits (led by Williams with 18). It didn't help that Pierce fouled out of the game (and subsequently drew a technical for barking at officials) with just under 5 minutes to play. As with their other 2 losses, we could dissect this one forever, but here's my major gripe: Why the hell was Ray Allen shooting a three with a two point deficit at the end of the 4th? I get that Ray's the logical choice to have the crucial late shot; after all, he's been doing it his whole career and has probably made more than he's missed. But even if he had drained it, the Hawks would have had 13 seconds to speed down the court and make an easy layup for the win. The decision seems even more ridiculous given the fact that KG was relatively open down low when Ray was teeing up his shot. Anyway, if they play this erratically on the road against the Hawks, what will happen in Games 3, 4 and 6 (if necessary) against the Cleveland Cavaliers?
Game 7: Boston 99, Atlanta 65
I never thought I'd see it, but Perk had a solid playoff game with 10 points and 10 rebounds. KG also contributed a double-double, with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The Celts grabbed key offensive rebounds, finishing with 14 in that category, and in a sign that everyone was contributing in this one, P.J. Brown threw in a huge block on a Joe Johnson jumper in the 2nd quarter. As the final score indicates, the Hawks never had a chance as their two highest scorers combined for just 26 points. With an insurmountable deficit with 9:09 left in the 3rd, the Hawks showed their true colors as Marvin Williams clotheslined Rondo on a layup attempt. It was an inexcusable move and he should be reprimanded beyond just being ejected. Boston bias aside, the announcers made a great point on this subject: if you're eight inches taller than Rondo (as Williams is), you go up and try to block that ball, not grab Rondo by the neck and drop him on the ground. Credit Doc for keeping all the subs in the bench area and for helping everyone keep their cool at an emotional time. Anyway, two things happened in the 3rd that served as the perfect representation of the grit and determination the C's showed in this series: First, Garnett, Allen and Rondo were still diving around to get a loose ball with a 34 point lead. Second, KG channeled his inner Adalius Thomas and lowered his shoulder on Pachulia in the Hawks' backcourt with 2:03 left in the 3rd. It was a great play because it was a hard, clean pick, but it also partially served as retribution for the Williams foul on Rondo while simultaneously showing the Hawks and their fans just how this thing was supposed to turn out in the first place... with the Hawks lying bruised and battered on the floor, looking up starry-eyed at the NBA's best regular season team.
Overall, it was an unnecessarily dramatic series. This thing realistically should have been over in 5 or 6 games but the Celts couldn't win on the road and the Hawks stayed alive longer than everyone predicted in what proved to be a surprisingly valiant effort. So, next come the Cavaliers and some guy named LeBron. The Celtics need to improve on several aspects of their game, most importantly their consistency on the road, and we'll explore these in more detail when we check back in with a full Second Round Preview tomorrow.
Al Horford burst onto the playoff scene with 20 points and 10 rebounds in his first career postseason game, but with 6 players in double digits, the Celts easily handled the Hawks in this first matchup. Not to be outdone, Kevin Garnett (16 points, 10 rebounds) recorded his 40th career double-double in his first playoff appearance in four years. Speaking of KG, you can really see how excited he is to be in this postseason with this Celtics squad... and if you weren't sure about his dedication or just how pumped up he is, I present Exhibit A. Awesome intensity, although I don't think Leon Powe shared that sentiment. Rajon Rondo narrowly missed a double-double of his own (15 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds) en route to one of the best games he's played in his young career. Powe (10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks) logged more minutes than Kendrick Perkins (3 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks); don't be surprised to see that trend continue in this series. As a team, the Celts played tight defense all game (although they need to come up with an answer for Horford) and they had 5 players with 2 offensive boards, a good sign for a team that's relatively weak in that category.
Game 2: Boston 96, Atlanta 77
Maybe I gave the the Hawks too much credit by singing their very few praises in my Round 1 Playoff Preview; after watching this game, I've come to learn that they're not much more than a bunch of bullies, punks and whiners, as evidenced by Mike Bibby's trashing of Boston fans, Al Horford's badgering directed at the Celtics bench and Joe Johnson's excessively hard foul on Paul Pierce. Props to the fans chanting "Where is Bibby?" when he wasn't on the floor. To quote Jim Rome, "Hi-larious." The Celts continued to roll with 5 players in double digits (led by KG with 19) and held Horford to just 9 points on 4-for-9 shooting. KG recorded another double-double and was the central figure in one of the coolest sequences of the season: after nailing a 24-foot trey (take a second to let that sink in... KG hit a 3-pointer... in the playoffs, no less), KG hustled back to block a layup attempt by Horford; then, after a Marvin Williams offensive rebound, KG drew a charging foul from Horford. What can I say, the guy does it all. A key to the Celts' success tonight was their ability to turn the ball over. The C's out-stole the Hawks 15 to 4 with Rondo and Glen "Big Baby" Davis combining for 7 takeaways. One thing to keep an eye on in the upcoming games: fouls and free throws. The Hawks got to the line 40 times tonight, while the Celts only made 26 appearances on the stripe.
Game 3: Boston 93, Atlanta 102
Josh Smith (27 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) put the Hawks on his back and spoiled an excellent effort from Garnett (32 points and 10 rebounds). All the Hawks starters were in double digits in points and Horford owned the boards with a game-high 14 rebounds. Aside from the whole losing deal, there were several things to dislike in this one: First, the officiating was pretty terrible. The Celts finished with 23 fouls as a team (only 3 more than the Hawks), but said fouls came at the most inopportune times and seemed to be "hometown" calls, at least on a couple of occasions. Second, the Celts had 9 combined steals/blocks after averaging 15.5 over the first two games. The 15 steals from Game 2 are very much on the high side and would be difficult to replicate night-in and night-out, but as little as two or three more steals/blocks would have helped out a lot in a 9 point game. Lastly, Ray Allen forgot how to score in the second half and couldn't hit a shot in moderate traffic to save his life. His final numbers (13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) were respectable, but he didn't score a single point in either the third or fourth quarters. On the positive side, Rondo called Monday's Game 4 a "must win," so it's nice to see that they're still hungry.
Game 4: Boston 92, Atlanta 97
This one got out of hand in a hurry. The Celts once sported a 13 point lead in the first half but let that lead become an 8 point deficit at the time of the guadruple-technical-foul about midway through the 2nd quarter (which, while we're on this topic, was absolute BS because Zaza Pachulia was draped over KG's shoulder and after Garnett's infraction, proceeded to head-butt KG, which went unpunished); more terrible officiating down in the A-T-L. Ray Allen turned in a terrific individual performance (21 point and 5 assists), but it wasn't enough to overcome the 63 combined points put up by Josh Smith and Joe Johnson. Things looked to be coming together for the C's in the third quarter (which was helped by the fact that officials called only 3 fouls on them) as they outscored the Hawks by 13, but everything fell apart in the fourth as the Celts were on the wrong side of a 15 point differential. Remember how I told you to keep your eye on free throws and fouls? Well the Celts got to the line just 18 times tonight; the Hawks, on the other hand, went 29-for-33 in freebies. On a side note, did you hear the Cheers theme playing at one point? Why would you play the theme song of a show that is inexorably connected to the city of Boston to pump up Hawks fans? I guess we shouldn't criticize, though, because most of these young Hawks are new at the whole postseason thing.
Game 5: Boston 110, Atlanta 85
This was just what we needed, an anxiety-free, blowout victory. Captain Paul Pierce led the way with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists and was one of six Celtics to finish in double digits. Ray Allen went 5-for-8 from three point range and finished with 19 points, while Powe and Sam Cassell came off the bench to combine for 23 points. Everything was clicking tonight, except for the play of Kendrick Perkins. Perk finished with just 2 points and 4 rebounds in 22 minutes, but with Leon spelling him occasionally at center , they didn't need big production from the big guy. To reference Tommy Heinsohn, there were a couple "I love Leon!" moments as Powe drew two huge charges within two minutes of each other in the first quarter to keep the Hawks from gaining any type of momentum. Horford nabbed another double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds but the surprisingly poor play of Mike Bibby (6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist) and a lack of depth is really sinking this team's chances. Any lingering concerns over Ray Allen and his lack of late production from Game 3 were squashed when he nailed three 3-pointers in a 3 minute span in the 3rd.
Game 6: Boston 100, Atlanta 103
When did "have trouble winning on the road" become an appropriate description of the 2007-08 Boston Celtics? After this Game 6 loss, that's when. For whatever reason, the Celts are having a very tough time playing fundamentally sound basketball in crunch time. Pierce scored 11 of his 17 points in the 1st quarter and Perk finished with 14 points, but the Hawks proved to be too much to handle with 6 players in double digits (led by Williams with 18). It didn't help that Pierce fouled out of the game (and subsequently drew a technical for barking at officials) with just under 5 minutes to play. As with their other 2 losses, we could dissect this one forever, but here's my major gripe: Why the hell was Ray Allen shooting a three with a two point deficit at the end of the 4th? I get that Ray's the logical choice to have the crucial late shot; after all, he's been doing it his whole career and has probably made more than he's missed. But even if he had drained it, the Hawks would have had 13 seconds to speed down the court and make an easy layup for the win. The decision seems even more ridiculous given the fact that KG was relatively open down low when Ray was teeing up his shot. Anyway, if they play this erratically on the road against the Hawks, what will happen in Games 3, 4 and 6 (if necessary) against the Cleveland Cavaliers?
Game 7: Boston 99, Atlanta 65
I never thought I'd see it, but Perk had a solid playoff game with 10 points and 10 rebounds. KG also contributed a double-double, with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The Celts grabbed key offensive rebounds, finishing with 14 in that category, and in a sign that everyone was contributing in this one, P.J. Brown threw in a huge block on a Joe Johnson jumper in the 2nd quarter. As the final score indicates, the Hawks never had a chance as their two highest scorers combined for just 26 points. With an insurmountable deficit with 9:09 left in the 3rd, the Hawks showed their true colors as Marvin Williams clotheslined Rondo on a layup attempt. It was an inexcusable move and he should be reprimanded beyond just being ejected. Boston bias aside, the announcers made a great point on this subject: if you're eight inches taller than Rondo (as Williams is), you go up and try to block that ball, not grab Rondo by the neck and drop him on the ground. Credit Doc for keeping all the subs in the bench area and for helping everyone keep their cool at an emotional time. Anyway, two things happened in the 3rd that served as the perfect representation of the grit and determination the C's showed in this series: First, Garnett, Allen and Rondo were still diving around to get a loose ball with a 34 point lead. Second, KG channeled his inner Adalius Thomas and lowered his shoulder on Pachulia in the Hawks' backcourt with 2:03 left in the 3rd. It was a great play because it was a hard, clean pick, but it also partially served as retribution for the Williams foul on Rondo while simultaneously showing the Hawks and their fans just how this thing was supposed to turn out in the first place... with the Hawks lying bruised and battered on the floor, looking up starry-eyed at the NBA's best regular season team.
Overall, it was an unnecessarily dramatic series. This thing realistically should have been over in 5 or 6 games but the Celts couldn't win on the road and the Hawks stayed alive longer than everyone predicted in what proved to be a surprisingly valiant effort. So, next come the Cavaliers and some guy named LeBron. The Celtics need to improve on several aspects of their game, most importantly their consistency on the road, and we'll explore these in more detail when we check back in with a full Second Round Preview tomorrow.
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