“Preview: Celtics vs Hawks – Be Wary of Atlanta’s Momentum”

The Celtics host the Hawks this Saturday at 9:30 p.m. at TD Garden. Logical favourites, the C’s will nevertheless have to be wary of Atlanta and Trae Young, who will want to ride the momentum of their play-in victory against Miami. Be careful not to trip over the mat for the Massachusetts franchise.

The written preview of the series is here, the video preview right here.

Jayson Tatum and his gang will have to put on their falconer costumes tonight to prevent the Hawks from stealing their feathers. Starting a series of Playoffs is never easy, especially when you have the status of favorite. The C’s perhaps did not expect … to face Atlanta, Miami’s scorer on Wednesday night during the play-in. In the meantime, the Bostonians will have no excuses for this first game, they who have been resting for a good ten days since the end of the regular season. What could be better than feverish Hawks to warm up? For sure. But beware of a few parameters that could disrupt the clover collective.

First announced uncertain, Jaylen Brown will be there, but will he be 100%? For those who don’t know, the genie opened his hand picking up a broken vase. Result: 5 stitches and a possible package for Game 1 on Saturday. The tile. But not enough to jeopardize the Boston collective either. Joe Mazzulla indeed has plenty to do and the depth of the two rosters will be predominant throughout the series. Many profiles are likely to take over from JB in case, we think in particular of Sam Hauser, Grant Williams or even Payton Pritchard, not the same position, not the same face but the same passion. Jayson Tatum as for him, whatever happens, he will have the status of offensive leader of his team and could well strike a blow as soon as these Playoffs open.

On the Atlanta side? It’s not complicated: the Falcons don’t have nothing to lose. Already not play-in favorites against Miami, the Hawks will be even less so on Saturday night at TD Garden. So nothing to panic about for Trae Young and his band… who particularly appreciate this situation ofoutsider. Quin Snyder’s major 5 remains very clean on paper with Young, Capela, Murray, Hunter and Collins, but the depth of the team and therefore the quality of the bench will inevitably be a sticking point in this confrontation. But the particularity of Atlanta this season (like those before elsewhere) is that you never really know what to expect. Unpredictable as possible, sometimes brilliant sometimes grotesque, the Hawks are a bit of an allegory of inconstancy. Quite the opposite of Boston finally… What to disturb the collective machine of clubs?