BOSTON CELTICS v ATLANTA HAWKS
Prediction: 4-0 CELTICS

The Hawks haven’t been in the playoffs in ages, and thanks to the Pacers, they are now in it. Bad news? They’re up against the revitalized and very hungry Celtics. More bad news? They are 0-3 against the Celtics this season, having lost their last meeting by 10 with the Big 3 significantly slashing minutes to rest up for the playoffs. Actually, there is no good news for the Hawks except for the fact that they aren’t packing their bags to have another early summer

Celtics Season Summary:
There is no one in the NBA who wants to win an NBA title more than Kevin Garnett and there is no one with more heart and passion playing this game right now. When have you ever seen someone as hungry (or insane might be a better word!) as to go down on all fours to guard David West from the 3-point line! That was unbelievable. This Celtic team was built to win a championship this year, and they have all the necessary parts now. The only question mark I had on this team was veteran leadership at the point, with Rondo being a so-so rookie through mid-season. He turned it up late in the season and got the much needed confidence boost he required to ready himself for the playoffs. And his backup? Sam I Am is now back and I’m sure he’s going to be a big lift off the bench for the C’s to backup Rajon.

The Big 3 of KG, Pierce, and Allen, will be very difficult to stop, by any team in the league. There are only a handful of games that the Celtics have lost this season where 2 of the 3 played poorly. And even then, their bench of veterans (PJ Brown, Cassell, and Posey) keep coming in to save quite a few games for them. It will be important to see how much their role players (House, Big Baby, Powe, and Tony Allen) do in the playoffs, but I’m quite sure they will get quite a lot of run against the Hawks. I see blowout written all over this series by end of the 3rd quarter or even earlier. It’s not that I don’t respect the Hawks, they just don’t match up well with the Celtics on all positions.

Hawks Season Summary:
The pride of this young Hawks team is at its peak with their entry into the playoffs this year. What seemed like a mediocre team at the start of the season was transformed into a playoff contender with the addition of Mike Bibby. You now have a proven PG running your team, instead of Anthony Johnson or Acie Law. The Hawks are actually a pretty good team if you look at their personnel from 1 to 6. But after that, it’s all downhill from there.

Those 6 players (JJ, Bibby, JSmoove, Horford, Childress, and Marvin Williams) average practically the whole game, with the 10 to 15 minutes of airtime Zaza Pachulia gets in case Horford or JSmoove gets in foul trouble. And that’s where there problem lies. Once that happens, they have no other reliable big man capable of guarding KG. It is more than certain that at least 2 of those guys will be in foul trouble guarding ANY of the Big 3. And I don’t see how anyone from their bench can even compete with the Celts second team. That’s the reason I predict how almost all these games will be blowouts. Once 2 of their first 5 players go down, you only have Childress bringing in significant numbers and minutes.

Look on the bright side, it’s going to be a very good experience for the Hawks young guns… even if it’s going to be a good ass whipping It’s still way better than basking in the sun this summer like the Pacers will.

MATCHUPS:

POINT GUARD: RAJON RONDO v MIKE BIBBY
One of the league leaders in steals against one of the best clutch shooting PG’s in the game. Rookie v veteran, youth v experience. I see Rondo running around Bibby’s defense all night setting up all his teammates, and should average around 8 assists a game, but it should be way more than that.

Bibby will need to have his shooting touch starting Day 1 to have his confidence up from the get-go. If he does, it will put pressure on Rondo to do a better job on him and not leave Bibby to go for those steals against JSmoove and the gang. If Bibby can get it going early, the PG matchup might be at an even keel.
ADVANTAGE: CELTICS by a hair

SHOOTING GUARD: RAY ALLEN v JOE JOHNSON
Ray-Ray is the smoothest shooting guard in the league, bar none. His age doesn’t seem to have tapered off his shooting touch and he is one of the deadliest clutch shooters around. I remember at least 3 games this season where he hit either the game winner, or hit the go-ahead killer 3. What he lacks in defense, he makes up for in instant offense. The Hawks will have a horrible time guarding him with Rondo penetrating and KG posting up to free up the shooters.

Ohhh, what to say about JJ. From a pure shooter in Phoenix, he has transformed himself into an all-around franchise player for the Hawks and is definitely the leader of this team. I can reiterate everything I said about Ray Allen above and add the fact that Joe Johnson is one heck of a defender. JJ does everything on court, but the problem is when he starts off shooting bad, it usually goes on that way. He’s shooting just 43% compared to Ray’s 45%, not that bad right? Wrong. JJ has shot 1,479 times to date, while Ray has 982 FG attempted. This is important to note because he is ranked number 5 in the league in FG’s attempted and if the main brunt of the points from the Hawks squad is coming from him, and he shoots bad (which I’m sure the Celtics will make sure of), then the Hawks are in deep shit.
ADVANTAGE: EVEN

SMALL FORWARD: PAUL PIERCE v MARVIN WILLIAMS
Is there anyone luckier than Paul Pierce? Practically giving up on his team and asking to be traded, he suddenly ends up with KG and Ray Allen at his side and a huge possibility of getting his first ring. When the news broke, I thought someone’s stats had to suffer, and I picked the Truth’s to drop significantly. Not only did his numbers not go down, he’s playing much better and those two new guys made him an even better player than he ever was. Pierce is going to be the factor here, and will be making life miserable for the Hawks with his relentless slashing and shooting. If he gets hot, the Hawks are goners.

Marvin Williams has been a very quiet but solid player for the Hawks this year. His minutes are at a consistent 30, and his contributions are pretty significant. Averaging around 15 points a game, he has a great touch from the FT line, and is a good sleeper player but I see Josh Childress eating into his minutes in the playoffs. If he can be more aggressive, grab more boards as he is more than capable of doing, and make Pierce work harder on defense, there might be a slight glimmer of hope… that they won’t get blown out of the building every single night
ADVANTAGE: CELTICS

POWER FORWARD: KEVIN GARNETT v JOSH SMITH
KG has been the epitome of consistency, tenacity, and sheer unwillingness to lose this year. I believe he has made it a mission of his to bring home what he has always wanted to have this year. And with the core of players in this team, it will be difficult to argue otherwise. What else to say about KG? Well, shucks, his averages are at an all-time low with 20.4 ppg, 11.4 rpg and 4.4 apg. That bad right? It’s laughable actually that those are all-time lows. Doc Rivers said it best when he told reporters that it’s because the Celtics only need 3 quarters to beat you. Ha ha. There is no better all-around big man in the league right now than KG… and that has been the case for the past few years even when he was on that crappy Wolves squad.

JSmoove is one of the most exciting players to grace the court this season. I’ve never seen anyone block shots the way he does or dunk the way he does in the game. He chases after everything and I would pay to watch this guy play. But as flashy as he is, he has developed into quite a good player by expanding his range to further than mid-range and to the 3-point line. He used to just be a dunker, but he has developed his game very drastically upward in just a small span of time (sounds familiar?). The lack of inexperience will be a big factor here for JSmoove though, going into his first playoff game, and I think he will feel the nerves.

I’m actually afraid he might get injured trying too hard to block all the shots the Celtics take. And because of that, he may get into foul trouble (with the Celtics experience) and that’s a big no-no for the Hawks as he and JJ are the big pieces of their offense. He’s averaging 3 blocks a game against the Celtics, and with young guys in the playoffs, there is always a tendency to try too hard and end up playing a terrible game. Oh, by the way, he’s shooting 19-50 FG’s against the Celtics in the REGULAR SEASON which translates to a miserable 38% clip.
ADVANTAGE: CELTICS

CENTER: KENDRICK PERKINS v AL HORFORD

Perkins is a strong shot blocker and a rebounder. He’s a filler in the middle for anyone who gets past KG His offense is so-so, but isn’t relied on to score. His main job is to anchor the defense and start the fast break by blocking shots and throwing the ball to Rajon for the easy two’s. Though his role is simple, it is still vital to the Celtics as opponents will be more inclined to shoot from the outside than come in to try and challenge himself and KG. Those guys who do that usually lose, and with this Hawks team, KG and Perk swat away 4 blocks a game.

For those of you who think Kevin Durant has got the ROY award in hand, you better think again. I believe Al Horford has been a much more consistent performer this season and has been a very vital cog in the middle for the Hawks. This team wouldn’t even be close to making the playoffs this season without him. He is averaging almost 16 points and 10 rebounds a game against the C’s and plays SOLID defense inside. He’s been lying low on the radar and you don’t hear much about him, which might be the only thing stopping him from upsetting Durant for rookie of the year. It’s going to be a very good experience for Horford playing against the Celtics big guys when the playoffs begin. His potential next season will be tremendous.

ADVANTAGE: HAWKS

BENCH: Eddie House/Sam Cassell/James Posey v Josh Childress and Zaza Pachulia

The Celtics put together all the right pieces they needed to win a championship. They realize that when they go up against more experienced, playoff-ready teams like Detroit, they will need to shut people down, and they will need sparks off the bench.

I could have mentioned 4 more bench players for the C’s like PJ Brown, Tony Allen, Big Baby, and Leon Powe, as they are integral parts to the success of the Celtics to win it all this year… but it wouldn’t look nice beside two names from the Hawks. Josh Childress is the only bench player of the Hawks to note, as he is an unbelievably surprising player. Instant offense off the bench, great defender… a very solid all-around player. He comes off the bench but plays more minutes and usually plays better than Marvin Williams. But he has been horrendous against the Celtics this season. So there’s really not much of a bench to speak of for Atlanta, and Boston has this one all wrapped-up.
ADVANTAGE: CELTICS