by Darnell "The Playmaker" Sallins
The 2023 NBA Playoffs are set. The Eastern Conference has been steadier throughout the season as the East will run through Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Bucks. Nevertheless, we will focus on the two vs. seven matchup in the East. The Atlanta Hawks against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
This series has an interesting dynamic to it as the Hawks survived the Play-In Tournament. Trae Young leads the Hawks against Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics swept the regular season 3-0 over the Hawks.
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks once again make the playoffs through the Play-In Tournament. Dominating the Miami Heat down in South Beach Tuesday night to capture the 7th seed. Even though, Trae Young is the face of the franchise, it was the bench that made the way for the Hawks. The Hawks' bench outscored the Heat's bench 53-37 with 33 of the 37 Heat bench points coming from Kyle Lowry. The Hawks also outrebounded the Heat 63-39, 22-6 on offensive rebounds. Clint Capela grabbed 21 rebounds in Tuesday's night game.
For the season, Trae Young averaged 26.2 points per game which ranks 10th in the league and 10.2 assists per game which ranks 2nd in the league behind James Harden. Against the Celtics, Young averaged 31 points and 11 assists. But Trae Young, has a running mate this time around in Dejounte Murray. Murray averaged 20.5 points, 53 rebounds and 6.1 assists in his 1st season in Atlanta. However, Murray struggles against Celtics, as he only scores 16.5 points shooting 45.7% from the field and 16.7% from three.
Boston Celtics
The reigning Eastern Conference Champions begin their road to repeat and reach the NBA Finals. The Boston Celtics finished with the 2nd best record in the league behind the Milwaukee Bucks. One of the deepest teams if not the deepest team in the league. They can go 12+ deep in any game with Malcom Brodgon, Sam Hauser, Peyton Pritchard, Blake Griffin, Mike Muscala, and Grant Williams.
Now, the star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown picked back up where they left off in the NBA Finals. Tatum is coming off his best season of his career, averaging 30.1 points per game on 46.6% shooting including 35% from three to go along with 8.8 rebounds per game and 4.6 assists per game. Jaylen Brown is also coming off his best season of his career as he averaged 26.6 points per game on 49.1% shooting with 6.9 rebounds.
The Celtics as a team provide all kinds of problems for the Hawks. The Celtics averaged 126.7 points on 52.2 % shooting and 46.5% from three-point range in three games versus Atlanta.
The series begins Saturday, April 15 in Boston
Series Schedule (* If Necessary)
Game 1: Saturday, April 15 in Boston at 3:30PM on ESPN
Game 2: Tuesday, April 18 in Boston at 7:00PM
Game 3: Friday, April 21 in Atlanta at 7:00PM on ESPN
Game 4: Sunday, April 23 in Atlanta at 7:00PM on TNT
*Game 5: Tuesday, April 25 in Boston
*Game 6: Thursday, April 27 in Atlanta
*Game 7: Saturday, April 29 in Boston