The Hawks have a chance to close out the Boston Celtics in a playoff series Thursday night, which probably is a difficult thing for Atlanta sports fans to process. (The Atlanta franchise is 0-7 all-time vs. Boston.)
This much we know, in the words of former Boston coach Rick Pitino:
But one major key to Game 6 at TD Garden will be whether the Celtics can figure out how to counter the Hawks’ “small” lineup that they used so effectively in Tuesday’s 110-83 win.
The Hawks were at their best when center Al Horford, who has been struggling, went to the bench and coach Mike Budenholzer went with a smaller lineup, with Mike Scott and Paul Millsap as his lone big men. The duo caused matchup problems for Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who couldn’t find a viable option that worked.
Was this the breakthrough the Hawks were looking for in a series that has been far more difficult than anticipated? We’ll know more Thursday.
For more on Budenolzer's strategy change, go to my column on MyAJC.com that is linked here.
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