We have reached the halfway point of the Celtics season as they face the 21-19 Atlanta Hawks tonight. It is the third time this season that these teams will play, with Boston winning 123-93 on November 4th and losing 117-116 on November 12th in an NBA Cup game. All time, the Celtics are 245-150 against the Hawks.
The Hawks have been a fun team to watch this season. Trae Young is leading the NBA in total assists and assists per game this season and Jalen Johnson has taken his game to a fringe All-Star level. Meanwhile, De’Andre Hunter is a Sixth Man of the Year candidate and Dyson Daniels has also played very well this season averaging 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and a league leading 3.1 steals per game this season.
They went to the semi-finals of the NBA Cup and played the Bucks close and lost but since that point they are 7-6 with blowout losses to the Nuggets, Lakers and Clippers. Since losing in the NBA Cup, Atlanta is 11th in offense and 22nd in defense. This is a team that is floating in average right now but they are better than the Pelicans and Raptors, who both played the Celtics tough, Toronto even beat Boston.
The Hawks beat the Bulls on Wednesday 110-94 behind a career high 27 points from Keaton Wallace. Atlanta did not have Young, Hunter, Johnson or first overall pick Zaccharie Risacher in that game, so it was an impressive win for a team that should be well rested.
This is also the second leg of a back-to-back for the Celtics, who crushed the Magic 121-94 last night. Jayson Tatum scored 30 points, Kristaps Porzingis scored 23 points and Jaylen Brown scored 20 points in the win. It was the best the Celtics have looked recently because they haven’t played well in recent weeks.
Injury News
Hawks injury report for Saturday @ Celtics:
Probable
Hunter (left foot soreness)
Young (right rib contusion)Questionable
Johnson (right shoulder inflammation)Out
Bufkin (right shoulder surgery)
Nance (right hand surgery) Risacher (left adductor irritation) Zeller (nwt)— Lauren L. Williams (@WilliamsLaurenL) January 17, 2025
For the Hawks, DeAndre Hunter and Trae Young are probable with Jalen Johnson questionable. Meanwhile Kobe Bufkin, Larry Nance Jr. and Cody Zeller all remain out.
Celtics’ injury report for tonight vs. the Hawks:
Al Horford (left big toe sprain) – QUESTIONABLE
Kristaps Porzingis (left PTT return from injury management) – QUESTIONABLE
Jayson Tatum (left shoulder strain) – QUESTIONABLE
— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) January 18, 2025
For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis are all questionable. Expect Horford to be out with this being the 2nd night of a back-to-back. Porzingis said last night that he believes he has a chance to play.
Kristaps Porzingis hasn’t usually played both legs of a back to back, but said he believes there’s a chance he’ll play tomorrow.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) January 18, 2025
Tatum landed funny on his shoulder last night but remained in the game.
Jayson Tatum getting his shoulder looked at by trainer Nick Sang at the quarter break after taking some contact on a drive to the basket earlier tonight pic.twitter.com/CAj7xDYFhr
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) January 18, 2025
Key Matchups
Trae Young vs. Derrick White
As mentioned, Young is leading the NBA in assists per game and total assists for the season. He has also played well against the Celtics during his career, averaging 24.4 points, 7.6 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game in 18 career regular season games against Boston. During the 2023 first round series these teams played, Young averaged 29.2 points and 10.2 assists per game in that series. He typically plays well against the Celtics. It will likely be Derrick White who is tasked with guarding Young. White has struggled offensively as of late, shooting 32% from three since the start of December. He can’t let that affect his defense because Young has proven he can hurt the Celtics.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
DeAndre Hunter vs. Payton Pritchard
This is not a typical matchup of guys who will be guarding each other but a battle of two of the top sixth men in the league. We all know Pritchard’s story, he is having a career year averaging a career high 14.5 points per game while shooting 47% from the field and a career high 41.5% from three. Meanwhile, Hunter has been a starter his whole career, only coming off of the bench in six games while starting 200 over the first four seasons of his career. Last season, he came off of the bench in 20 games and this year he has come off of the bench in 25 games. Averaging a career high 19.4 points a game while shooting a career high 43% from three, Hunter has become very good and very comfortable coming off of the bench.
Jayson Tatum vs. Dyson Daniels
This does not seem like a typical matchup but Daniels has been the primary matchup against Tatum for the Hawks this season, should Tatum play. According to NBA Advanced Stats Player Tracking analysis, Daniels guarded Tatum for 9:31 of game action on November 12th and 6:16 on November 4th. When guarded by Daniels this season, Tatum has scored 16 points and dished out 9 assists while shooting 43% from the field. For his career Tatum has averaged 24.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game against the Hawks.
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Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
Keys to the Game
Protecting the ball: The Hawks had 16 steals the last time these two teams played, that led to 20 Celtics turnovers. Atlanta is second in the NBA in steals per game this season at 10.3 per game and Dyson Daniels leads the league in steals per game at 3.1. The Hawks get a lot of steals but other than that their defense has not been good this season. If the Celtics can avoid turnovers, they should be in a good spot. The first time these two teams played the Celtics only had 12 turnovers and won by 30 so protecting the ball is a key part of the game.
The three point line: Of course we all know that the Celtics lead the NBA in three pointers attempted and made per game this season at 48.2 attempts per game and 17.6 makes per game. However, what you might not know is the Hawks have been really bad at guarding the three point line this season. Giving up a league worst 15.2 three pointers made per game at a league worst 38.1%. Over the last 15 games, the Celtics are only making 15.1 threes per game so it will be important that they are able to make their open looks tonight.
Intensity on both sides of the court: The Celtics are a better team than the Hawks are, even with Al Horford likely out tonight because of the second leg of a back to back. A lot of the Celtics struggles recently have been because their effort has lacked on defense during games. The Hawks haven’t played since Wednesday and a lot of their key players didn’t play in that game so they will be rested and they are playing the defending champs so they’ll be ready to play tonight. Meanwhile, the Celtics are playing the 2nd leg of a back to back. It will be imperative that the Celtics play with good effort tonight, on both sides of the court.
Tip off is at 7 pm, more like 7:10, on NBC Sports Boston, FanDuel Sports Network Southeast and NBA League Pass. Radio is on 98.5 The Sports Hub and WZGC.
