Official Playoff Game Thread: Hawks at Celtics -- GAME 1 (3 PM Tip!)

[lethalweapon3]

“BUH GAWD, KORVER! THAT MARCUS SMART HAS A FAMILY!”

 

Joe Mazzulla seems to have it all. Upon first glance.

The fourth-year NBA assistant was abruptly handed the head coaching keys, last autumn, to a reigning Eastern Conference champion. One with its top eight playoff contributors returning, with their prior coach managing the club from above, adding two former Rookies of the Year to the veteran mix.

Mazzulla deftly steered the Celtics, the NBA’s most efficient team (+6.7 Net Rating), to 57 wins, Boston’s most successful regular season since the defending NBA champions embarked on a return to the playoffs with 62 wins in 2009.

For any 34-year-old New Englander, especially a burly Big East point guard with a lightly remarkable collegiate playing career, this ascent to become the coach in charge of the Eastern Conference’s most historically successful franchise is the stuff dreams are made of, even if the path to the top of the NBA coaching ranks was a bit discomfiting.

One thing Coach Mazz does not have? A playoff series win. Not just yet.

So far, Quin Snyder has three under his belt. Before he got the chance to build up a playoff-competitive roster in Utah, the Jazz liked what they saw when the Atlanta Hawks, then under new coach Mike Budenholzer’s command, pressed Paul George’s top-seeded Pacers to a two-count as an eight-seed in 2014. Coach Bud wasn’t leaving Atlanta anytime soon, the Jazz surmised. So, why not nab one of his plum assistants?

Three seasons in, Snyder’s first foray into the playoffs wasn’t going too great. After stealing Game 1 of the 4-5 matchup with the lauded LA Clippers, the Jazz lost the next two games. Unfortunately for the Clips, the brittle Blake Griffin injured a toe. Ruled out for the remainder of the postseason, LA was suddenly no match for Joe Johnson, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and rookie bench big Rudy Gobert.

The Jazz got the best of the George-led Thunder as a 5-seed underdog the very next postseason, this time with Donovan Mitchell leading the charge. As imposing as Gobert was in the middle, he paled in the ensuing round to his Euro counterpart Clint Capela, who helped Iso Joe’s new team, the Rockets, make quick work of Utah in five games.

The Jazz were the class of the NBA West by 2021, on pace for 59 wins in a pandemic-shortened season. Unfortunately, their failure to capitalize on their favorable status to reach a conference final, and the growing strain between their offensive and defensive pillars, namely Mitchell and Gobert, dogged Snyder’s tenure and would soon have him surveying the NBA landscape for a fresh start. With Danny Ainge having made his way from Boston to SLC, Quin wisely sought to jump before he could be pushed.

Coach Quin seems to have as fresh a start as he could find, a midseason hire who helped the Hawks (41-41) mosey into these NBA Playoffs as an unheralded 7-seed. One consideration he’ll appreciate, entering into Game 1 of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal in Boston (3:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, NBC Sports Boston, ESPN), is that his new offensive and defensive pillars, Trae Young and Capela, could not possibly be more of one accord, on or off the courts. Another advantageous factor is his wealth of experience, at all levels, relative to Mazzulla.

Roughly a month before Coach Mazz was born, Hawks announcer Dominique Wilkins waged a titanic Game 7 clash with Larry Legend on the hallowed Boston Garden parquet. Coach Quin is likely to recall this pivotal battle fondly, perhaps watching with rabbit ears on his VHF television as the steely point guard prepared for what would be his senior season alongside Danny Ferry at Duke.

Mazzulla began his journey as an assistant coach, in Division II hoops, about two years after Snyder was named the 2009 D-League Coach of the Year with the Spurs’ Austin Toros. Mazzulla joined the G-League ranks as an assistant with the Celtics’ Maine Red Claws around the time Snyder was signing his long-term extension as the Jazz head coach in 2016.

Snyder and Mazzulla inherited their current coaching staffs upon their respective hires. But it is noteworthy that Quin did not lose any assistants, not even Nate McMillan’s son, along the way.

After taking over for Mr. Steal Yo Girl, Mazzulla was not replaced with a new hire by Celtics PBO Brad Stevens. The only head coach in the league entering this season younger than Mazzulla, former Boston assistant Will Hardy, replaced Snyder in Utah shortly after the Celtics were tucked into bed by Steph Curry in the NBA Finals. Hardy was not replaced this summer by Stevens, either. The coaching bench grew ever smaller for Boston following their 134-125 win in Atlanta last month, when Damon Stoudamire paid a visit to Georgia Tech and decided to stick around The Flats.

Whereas the prior head coach had upwards of six assistants to help him navigate his maiden voyage through the Eastern Conference Playoffs, Mazzulla has just three to lean on. The going may not get too treacherous for Boston in this opening round. But if it does, Snyder has a full slate of assistants who know this team well, and they have had over a month of time to build internal rapport with the ousted McMillan’s replacement.

With a playoff-sharpened roster that has seen its share of playoff ups and downs with many teams, including ex-Hawks Al Horford and Mike Muscala as well as perennial pest Marcus Smart, Mazzulla depends highly upon his veterans on the court to be his lead assistants. Horford and Muscala, as we know, were well-tenured Hawks when Atlanta, a disregarded 4-seed, ended its decades-long playoff hex versus Boston in a 4-2 first-round series win. Smart was a second-year backup, still three seasons away from becoming a mainstay starter in Boston’s backcourt, while Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were on their way as lottery draftees for the resulting rebuild.

“I think they have a feel for one another and how they play together,” Coach Quin remarked of the present-day Celtics on Tuesday after his Hawks dispatched the heat in Miami, while not entirely sure yet of the day or time for Game 1. “Their reads are terrific, and they got a lot of guys that can make plays and they want to do that for one another. It makes them really, really hard to guard.” Snyder added in his postgame presser, “I think their versatility defensively is unique, also, some of the different lineups they can put out.”

Although slash-able pronouns don’t go over terribly well these days down there in Florida, the operative words to note here are, “they/them/their”. There was not much focus by Snyder, directly, on the All-NBA qualities of Tatum, or his Marietta-native co-All-Star, Brown. Snyder’s view of Boston is aspirational as to how he hopes Atlanta is one day perceived, as a collective built in a way that makes the potential for its superstar(s) reach stratospheric levels.

For the C’s, it always comes down to the degree of their superiority shooting from the perimeter. Last month’s 118-117 loss, coincidentally, to Snyder’s former club in Utah was the only blemish among 32 games (34, if you choose to round up) where the Celtics shot at least 40 percent on threes. The Hawks only had 22 games meeting or exceeding 40 percent, but they lost six of those and were outshot by opponents in most of that subset of losses.

Boston also finished 22-2 when opponents shot the rock at or below a 31 percent clip, both defeats from the prior calendar year and one being a one-point overtime loss at Cleveland. Atlanta, similarly, went 24-3, with just one L in this calendar year, but they had too many games with defensive lapses for that to matter in the standings.

Including the Hawks-Celtics exhibition to close out the regular season, Atlanta shot 21.9, 29.4, and 28.2 on threes in their three head-to-head losses, whereas Boston made 45.7, 47.6, and 46.3. The challenge for the Hawks offense throughout this series is to close that disparity, in part by keeping off-ball players and the ball itself in motion such that the quality of their perimeter catches and looks are vastly improved.

On defense, Hawks directly guarding Tatum and Brown have to funnel them away from easy drives to the rim, and not fouling in recovery, while being fully aware limited help is coming their way. That would-be help includes Capela, who was masterful in Miami (postseason-best 21 rebounds) on Tuesday but will have his hands full boxing out Robert Williams. Defenders able to keep a foot out of the paint and stick to Boston’s array of perimeter threats will aid Atlanta’s cause over the course of 48 minutes.

As much of a model of efficiency as Boston has been in 2022-23, last year’s edition, despite their struggles through mid-season, finished with an even higher Net Rating. Their +7.4 net ranked second to the Suns last year and was just ahead of Snyder’s Jazz (+6.2). In the opening round of those playoffs, Quin had a front-row seat to Jalen Brunson’s and Dorian Finney-Smith’s heroics (you, too, Spencer Dinwiddie. Sure.) as the league saw how potent the 4-seed Mavericks could be with a cohesive fullcourt lineup supporting a semi-injured Luka Doncic, who missed the first three games of Dallas’ 4-2 series win.

Young, and Dejounte Murray, may have their moments to shine on the court. But the Hawks can make a competitive series out of this when John Collins, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and the young guns off the bench commit to making positive plays at both ends of the court, plus Trae and Bogi helping to secure defensive boards and deflect passes. Communication will be key, and Tuesday’s win at Miami illustrated the Hawks’ capabilities when Snyder has his players communicating and adjusting to opponent runs effectively.

Mazzulla has looked quite capable of navigating a stout, veteran team through the regular season. On this elevated stage, facing off with a tactician who is decades his senior, we wait to see just how well he can fend off the old adage, that age comes before beauty.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

If we put our heads together, we may be able to pull this one out!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

ERRATA ALREADY?: Brad and the Celts did promote two assistants to replace Hardy/Mazzulla and Stoudamire. Matt Reynolds was previously a video coordinator and "special assistant" to Stevens and Ime Udoka before his October promotion. D.J. Macleay, coincidentally an alum from Muscala's Bucknell, was previously the Celtics' "player enhancement coach" before the formal promotion in this, his first season.

EDIT: I gleaned this corrective info from the Celtics' Game Notes. Just between us, don't nobody tell Derrick White that the Celtics have him listed on the front page as a "Rookie".

https://www.nba.com/gamenotes/celtics.pdf

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Emotionally, the scheduling for this Game 1 probably could have been better for us, were it on Sunday instead.

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

Our defensive communication will have to be on point. The urgency and  purpose with which we switch on screens and get out to shooters will be so important. We have to have the same aggressive, physical approach we did vs the heat - bump, dig, re-route, fight thru, over and around screens.

 

 

 

[kg01]

This was the series I wanted.  I promised to do something for this series but I legit forgot what it was.  Haha.  Old age ....

[Spud2nique]

1 minute ago, kg01 said:

This was the series I wanted. 

Sincerely,

Spud

1 minute ago, kg01 said:

This was the series I wanted.  I promised to do something for this series but I legit forgot what it was.  Haha.  Old age ....

I got receipts from 3 weeks ago saying I specifically wanted these piece of chit Celts! 

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

BUH GAWD, KORVER! THAT MARCUS SMART HAS A FAMILY!”

 Even my lady wife ain’t buyin his stuff anymore or ever did. 

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Roughly a month before Coach Mazz was born, Hawks announcer Dominique Wilkins waged a titanic Game 7 clash with Larry Legend on the hallowed Boston Garden parquet.

Classic I’ve watched 73 times.

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Al Horford and Mike Muscala

A clown and a man  

Thanks @lethalweapon3 we got the goods today for the playoffs, came full circle ️ for these dudes.

Vegas got Celts -9.5

No 2K but I my prediction:

HAWKS BY 7!!!! @LongTimeFan what say you! 
 

GO HAWKS!!!!! F the shamrock bizzies.

 

[JayBirdHawk]

T-Minus 4 hours!

[Guest]

38 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

BY

That sounds about right to me actually.

[JayBirdHawk]

Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said beating Miami in the Play-In wasn’t even “something to be celebrate. I would say appreciate.”

When Trae Young was asked if he would pause to celebrate the win before looking ahead to the Celtics series, he snapped, “No, what’s there to celebrate?”

Well, you made the playoffs.

“That’s cool,” Young responded, in a more reflective tone. “I mean, it’s cool we made the playoffs. I’m happy for guys like Saddiq who’ve never been in the playoffs, and some of the other rookies and J.J. (Jalen Johnson) and some of the other guys who this is their first time to be able to experience the playoffs, but I mean, for me, I’ve been in the playoffs now three times and a couple of guys have been in way more than I have. It’s cool to be in the playoffs, but you want to win games in the playoffs.”

https://theathletic.com/4403654/2023/04/12/nba-play-in-hawks-heat-pistons-saddiq-bey/

 

[AHF]

Zion:  “I celebrated us making the play-in game with two Big Macs and a plate of etouffe and that was before warmups!”

[kg01]

2 minutes ago, AHF said:

Zion:  “I celebrated us making the play-in game with two Big Macs and a plate of etouffe and that was before warmups!”

Savagery ... I'm here for it.

On another note, in case anyone's wondering, no Sean Wright (Wrong) on the ref crew today.  So no random ref closeouts or player-injuries today.

We get David Guthrie, Bill Kennedy, and Ben Taylor .... wait, this is the corrupt dude right?  Sheesh, NBA, how does he qualify for postseason basketball if you had to punish him for being biased?  

[JayBirdHawk]

14 minutes ago, kg01 said:

We get David Guthrie, Bill Kennedy, and Ben Taylor .... wait, this is the corrupt dude right?  Sheesh, NBA, how does he qualify for postseason basketball if you had to punish him for being biased?  

[theheroatl]

Boston has killed us with White and their lights out shooting. We need to just flat out BULLY them right out of the gate.

LET the Boston hate flow and be bullies against those Boston clowns.

Edited April 15, 2023 by theheroatl

[Diesel]

When we take this first game, we get their attention. 

When we take game two, We take their heart. 

 

[shakes]

1 hour ago, AHF said:

Zion:  “I celebrated us making the play-in game with two Big Macs and a plate of etouffe and that was before warmups!”

When Zion was a rookie I saw an interview with him where they asked him what his favorite food in New Orleans was.  He said it was the seafood pasta from Dante’s.   I turned to my wife and said I bet that’s in a cream sauce.

[NBASupes]

Don't sleep on the Hawks. 

[benhillboy]

Hawks have a player who can put up monster numbers, are fully healthy, have arguably the best bench in the league, and playing with house money.

 

LET’S MUTHAF&@KIN GO!!!

[JayBirdHawk]

T-Minus 1 hour.

Let's Go!