Injuries have the Boston Celtics reeling ahead of their Eastern Conference tilt with the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night. After losing back-to-back games to the Celtics and Dallas Mavericks, the Hawks will be aiming for a different outcome with the Celtics in the rematch. Boston is currently riding a five-game win streak and has an opportunity to sweep their regular season series with the Hawks in this meeting. They are coming off a lopsided home win over the Orlando Magic.
The Hawks go big
Two bigs are better than one.
At least that seems to be the philosophy for the Hawks after pulling off multiple trades to acquire centers Clint Capela and Dewayne Dedmon. Capela is the most intriguing addition to the team, but he is also working his way back from a heel injury. So don’t expect him to make his debut against the Celtics on Friday.
The Hawks will look to build off their win over the Timberwolves against a Celtics team ravaged with injuries. Despite dropping 127 points on the lowly Timberwolves, Atlanta ranks as the second-worst team in the league in offensive efficiency. They also sit dead last in turnovers. That’s bad news heading on the road against the third-ranked defense in basketball. The Celtics wear the color green because they’re usually easy money on the defensive end of the floor.
Things don’t get much better for the Hawks on defense with the team allowing an average 47.6 field goal shooting percentage. They’ll have their hands full against arguably the most talented roster in the entire Eastern Conference.
Rookie Cam Reddish (concussion) is doubtful for the Hawks to play against the Celtics, while De’Andre Hunter remains questionable with an ankle injury.
Injury concerns growing for the Celtics
Celtics players are dropping like June Beetles.
Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward are all questionable for Friday’s game against the Hawks with an injury. That’s three of the team’s four-leading scorers wiped from existence like a Marvel character in a Thanos plotline.
The Celtics are currently riding a five-game winning streak, including Wednesday’s 116-100 victory over the Magic.
They’ll try to secure their 22nd home win of the season by fending off the visiting Hawks.
Even with the explosive potential of Trae Young and John Collins, the Hawks are only averaging 109.5 points per game. That may not be enough to keep pace with the Celtics’ 116.0 points in their home building. Depth is the main reason why the Celtics have been so dangerous this season. Even with three of their stars potentially sitting out, they still have players capable of stepping up behind star forward Jayson Tatum.
On the defensive end of the floor, they’ll be reaching and looking to steal a few possessions from the Hawks’ loose ball-handlers. Opposing teams are only averaging 105.4 points per game against the Celtics this season. That’s a tall mountain to climb for the struggling Hawks.
