Celtics set to face the Atlanta Hawks in first round of NBA playoffs

BOSTON -- The Celtics finally know their opponent for the first round of the NBA playoffs. In a bit of a surprise, Boston will square off with the Atlanta Hawks to open the postseason.

Atlanta is the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference after upsetting the Heat, 116-105, Tuesday night in Miami in the NBA's play-in tournament. The Hawks entered the game as the 8-seed, but advance to the real postseason with their victory over the Heat.

The Hawks led by as many as 24 points on Tuesday, though the Heat cut it to single digits at points in the second half. But Atlanta held on behind 25 points from Trae Young, who was 8-for-18 from the floor and just 1-for-9 from 3-point range. Dejounte Murray added 18 points, six assists, and five rebounds, while Atlanta got 17 points and six boards from Saddiq Bey off the bench.

Now they have to face a Celtics team that is determined to win an NBA title. Boston won all three of their regular season meetings with the Hawks, including two on the road in Atlanta. The Celtics shot over 54 percent from the floor in those two road victories.

The C's notched their first win over the Hawks in Atlanta back on Nov. 16, winning 126-101. Jaylen Brown led Boston's scoring with 22 points while Jayson Tatum added19. Derrick White was one of the four other Celtics to score in double digits, while he also dished out 10 assists. Boston won easily despite being without Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon.

The Celtics won again in Atlanta, 134-125, on March 11, though the Hawks carved up the Boston defense that night. Young led all scorers with 35 points, and the Hawks had seven players score in double figures. The Celtics offense was too much though, as Tatum scored 34, Brown chipped in with 24, and Brogdon has 18 points off the bench.

Things got a little chippy in that matchup, as Marcus Smart was ejected for getting into a tussle with Young.  

The two teams met for a third and final time on Sunday, though the Celtics played mainly backups in their regular season finale. Boston still notched a 120-114 victory against the Hawks at TD Garden.

In two games against his former team, Celtics veteran big man Al Horford averaged 8.0 points and 7.5 rebounds. Horford, who shot 44.6 from downtown to finish second in the NBA, was 4-for-8 from 3-point against the Hawks. 

While the Celtics were atop or near the top of the conference the entire season, Atlanta struggled to get to .500 for large stretches. They parted ways with head coach Nate McMillan around the All-Star break, replacing him with Quin Snyder. Atlanta's solid offense continued under the new head coach (with a 120.1 rating since the break, ranking fourth in the NBA) but the team's defense continued to struggle immensely. The Hawks carried an abysmal 118.2 defensive rating since the All-Star break, ranking 25th in the league.

The Celtics, for comparison's sake, ranked fifth with a 118.3 offensive rating and second with a 110.4 defensive rating after the break.

Young can still put up points in a hurry, but his offense has been a bit off this season. He hasn't paired as well with Murray as the Hawks would have liked, and John Collins has taken a step back this season. With all of Atlanta's struggles this year, there have been rumblings of potentially dealing Young this offseason.

The 2-seeded Celtics will host Game 1 of the series Saturday afternoon, with tipoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The rest of the series schedule will be announced in the coming days.