Boston Celtics vs. Atlanta Hawks: 3 bold predictions and a series pick

Exploring three bold predictions and a series pick for the first-round NBA Playoff series between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks. 

After a somewhat surprising performance in the NBA Play-In Tournament against the Miami Heat, the Atlanta Hawks are now the 7th seed and are set to face off in a first-round playoff matchup with the 2nd-seeded Boston Celtics. It seems like an overwhelming matchup in favor of the Celtics, there are certainly some individual player matchups that could ultimately make this series a little more intriguing than many believe it to be.

The Hawks have had an up-and-down season and have been pretty average on most nights. If they can find some consistency in this series, they could pose a good challenge for the Celtics, who have some concerns of their own heading into this series.

And at the center of those concerns is a cut on Jaylen Brown’s hand. The expectation is that he will not miss any time in the playoffs but until he’s on the floor for Game 1, we can’t entirely know for sure.

Heading into this first-round series between the Celtics and Hawks, we explore three bold predictions and offer up a series pick.

Bold prediction No. 1: The Boston Celtics will get up for the start of the playoff run

Since January 23, the Boston Celtics have been…just above average. They have a 22-13 record during the stretch which is ranked 5th in the Eastern Conference. They still have one of the league’s best net rating but some of the losses that they’ve suffered since the end of January are quite concerning.

I believe we’ll see the Celtics begin to put all those concerns to bed with a dominating performance to start the playoffs. Unfortunately, for the Hawks, it will come at their expense. At least to start the playoffs, the Celtics will channel their best.