Taylor Snow
Taylor Snow?@taylorcsnow
Sr. Writer
April 12, 20235:07 PM EDT

 

After defeating Atlanta in Sunday’s regular-season finale, the Boston Celtics will welcome back the Hawks to TD Garden for Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

 

Boston finished with the second-best record in both the NBA and the Eastern Conference at 57-25, while Atlanta closed out the regular season in eighth place at 41-41, but moved up to the seventh seed after an upset victory over the seventh-place Miami Heat in Tuesday night’s 7-8 play-in game.

 

The Celtics and Hawks share a storied postseason history, dating all the way back to the 1957 NBA Finals when rookies Bill Russell and Tom Heinsohn led Boston to its first NBA championship.

 

Boston holds a 10-2 playoff series advantage over the Hawks all-time; however, their most recent meeting in 2016 featured one of those two losses to an Al Horford-led Atlanta squad.

 

As they set to face off for their 11th postseason matchup, let’s take a look at some of the key stats and storylines pertaining to the series.

 

C's Have Dominated in Recent History
Much like with their postseason history, the Celtics have had Atlanta’s number in its recent regular-season matchups. Boston has won five straight head-to-head battles dating back to last season, three of which were decided by double-digits.

 

The Hawks had more trouble against the Celtics than any other opponent this season, as Boston outscored them by a total of 40 points in their three matchups. No other team outscored Atlanta by more than 29 points.

 

Boston’s average scoring margin of 13.33 points was more than twice as high as any other East opponent of the Hawks (Toronto at 5.67 PPG).

 

The first two matchups took place in Atlanta, resulting in a 126-101 Celtics win on Nov. 16 followed by a 134-125 C’s win on March 11. Boston then beat the Hawks, 120-114 at home during the last game of the regular season during which both teams rested all of their regular starters.

 

Elite Offenses Going Toe-to-Toe
As you can see in the results listed above, Celtics-Hawks matchups tend to be high-scoring affairs. That’s just what happens when two elite offenses face off.

 

Atlanta and Boston were the highest-scoring teams in the East this season, with the Hawks leading the conference with 118.4 points per game and the Celtics right behind at 117.9 PPG.

 

However, Atlanta’s scoring was somewhat skewed by the fact that it played at the second-fastest pace in the conference compared to Boston, which played at the ninth-fastest pace. Thus, the Celtics actually had the No. 1 offensive rating in the East at 117.3 points per 100 possessions compared to Atlanta’s fourth-place mark of 115.5.

 

Boston’s offensive success was a result of its elite ball movement, as it ranked second in the conference in assists per game at 27.6. Atlanta’s mark of 25.0 APG ranked eighth despite having the league’s individual leader in total assists, Trae Young, for the second straight year.

 

Key Matchup: Trae Young vs. Derrick White
Atlanta’s entire offense revolves around Young (26.2 PPG and 10.2 APG) and it’s going to take a group effort to slow him down. Marcus Smart and Derrick White will share a large portion of that responsibility, but we’re going to focus on the matchup that we saw the most of during the regular season, and that was White vs. Young.

 

White’s defense suffocated guards all over the league this season, which has made him a primary candidate for the All-Defense Team. However, Young gave him more trouble than anyone.

 

White gave up 9.5 points per game to Young during the possessions in which he guarded him, which was the highest average of any player defended by White all season. Young scored a total of 19 points during his 45.4 offensive possessions against White, all while shooting 50 percent from the field and 60.0 percent from 3-point range.

 

With that being noted, White should still be up for the task. He led all guards in blocked shots this season, which could be used to his advantage against a driving threat such as Young. Plus, White should get plenty of help from Smart, who only played in one game against Young this season.

 

As much success as Young had scoring against White, the same could be said on the other side of the ball. White’s 7.0 points per game while being guarded by Young were the most of any player who faced off against Young in multiple games this season. In his 65.3 offensive possessions while being guarded by Young, White scored 14 points on 66.7 percent shooting from the field and 100 percent shooting from 3-point range, while also only turning the ball over just once.

 

Battle of the Boards
Atlanta’s key to success in its play-in win over the Heat Tuesday night was its dominance on the offensive boards. The Hawks grabbed 22 rebounds on the offensive glass, eight of which were corralled by Clint Capela who finished with two more such rebounds than Miami’s entire roster.

 

Where it gets interesting is that the Celtics were the best defensive rebounding team in the league this season with a defensive rebounding percentage of 74.6 percent. However, Atlanta’s 14.3 offensive rebounds per game against the Celtics were the most corralled by any of their Eastern Conference foes.

 

Capela wasn’t the main issue for Boston in this case, as he grabbed just six offensive boards in two matchups. Instead, it was Onyeka Okongwu causing most of the trouble, as he corralled 14 offensive rebounds in three games.

 

There is an explanation for Boston’s unique struggles in this area against the Hawks: Robert Williams was not on the floor for any of the three matchups. Having the All-Defensive center back in the lineup should totally change the rebounding landscape and help keep guys like Capela and Okonwu off the glass.

 

Clean Bills of Health

It’s a rarity for two teams to head into a playoff series with clean bills of health, but that is exactly how it’s shaping up for the Celtics and Hawks as they prepare for Saturday’s opener. With the exception of former Hawk, Danilo Gallinari, who has missed the entire season recovering from ACL surgery, Boston expects to have all hands on deck for Game 1.

 

Two Celtics of note were dealing with minor injuries last week: Jaylen Brown with a lacerated finger and Marcus Smart with neck spasms. Brown was unable to practice Tuesday morning, but head coach Joe Mazzulla anticipates he’ll be back on the court by Thursday or Friday before heading into Saturday’s game without any restrictions.

 

Meanwhile, Smart was a full go at practice. “He's good, he's ramped up,” said Mazzulla. “He was great today in practice, went live, he said he felt good, so he'll be ready to go.”

 

The Hawks had no players on their injury report as of Wednesday morning, so it appears as though we’ll get two fully healthy teams to start off the series.

 

Atlanta’s Struggles Against Boston’s Bench
One of the greatest advantages that the Celtics have going for them in this series is depth. Atlanta has struggled tremendously against Boston’s second-unit players this season, and that may continue to be an issue throughout this series.

Sam Hauser was a thorn in the Hawks’ wing in all three matchups and surprisingly tied Jayson Tatum for the team-high in total points against Atlanta with 53 points on 66.7 percent shooting from the field and 68.0 percent shooting from long range.

 

Payton Pritchard averaged 22.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 7.5 assists in two matchups against the Hawks while shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 59.1 percent from deep.

 

Former Hawk Mike Muscala scored a career-high 27 points against Atlanta in the season finale and Malcolm Brogdon scored 18 points in his lone matchup against the Hawks.

 

In all, 10 different Celtics averaged double digits in scoring against Atlanta this season, including five players who typically come off the bench. Some of those numbers were skewed during the regular-season finale, but there's value in the fact that every Celtics player who will see the court in this series has had some sort of offensive success against the opponent.