Boston, MA - June 1: Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens speaks at an end-of-season press conference. (Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
JUST NOW: I DON’T FEEL OK WITH HIS PRESENCE AT BOSTON CELTICS, I THINK I WILL LEAVE…
The Celtics continue their road trip with their second straight game in Atlanta against the Hawks. This is the 4th and final game between these two teams this season. The Celtics won the first two games this season against Atlanta – 113-103 on Nov. 26 and 125-117 on Feb. 7 with both games played in Boston. They lost the third game 120-118 in Atlanta on Monday, after blowing a 30 point lead.
The Celtics won the series 3-0 last season and lead this season 2-1 going into this 4th game. The Celtics are 244 -1488 overall all time against the Hawks and they are 112-94 in games played in Atlanta. The Celtics have been off since Monday’s game while the Hawks are playing on the second night of back to back games, having played Portland on Wednesday. The Hawks are 7-5 in the 2nd of back to back games.
The Celtics remain 1st in the East, 11 games ahead of 2nd place Milwaukee, 13 games ahead of 3rd place New York, 13.5 games ahead of 4th place Cleveland, 15 games ahead of 5th place Orlando, and 17 games ahead of 6th place Indiana. They are 25-12 on the road and 9-1 in their last 10 games. They are 38-8 against Eastern Conference teams and lost their last game after winning the previous 9 games.
The Hawks are 10th in the East and are in the final play-in spot. They are 6 games behind 7th place Miami, 5.5 games behind 8th place Philadelphia, and 1 game behind 9th place Chicago for home court in the first play in game. They are 5.5 games ahead of 11th place Brooklyn and falling out of play-in contention. The Hawks are 18-17 at home and 5-5 in the last 10 games. They are 19-26 against Eastern Conference teams and won their last 3 games.
The Celtics are playing in the fourth game of a 6 game road trip. After this game in Atlanta, they will then will play New Orleans and Charlotte before returning home for 3 games against Oklahoma City, Sacramento, and Portland. Then it’s one game on the road in Milwaukee before finishing the season at home against New York, Charlotte and Washington.