Five reasons the Boston Celtics can upset the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs
The Boston Celtics will face the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2016 Eastern Conference NBA Playoffs. The fourth-seeded Hawks (48-34) will host Game 1 against the fifth-seeded Celtics (48-34) on Saturday, April 16th at the Philips Arena.
After having the exact same record after 82 regular season games, Atlanta holds the tie-breaker over Boston by virtue of their 3-1 record in head-to-head match-ups, and thus are rewarded with the higher seed and home court advantage for the duration of the series.
With two teams of the same record facing each other, can a Celtics defeat of the Hawks truly be considered an upset? Yes.
These are two organizations at two very different places in their quest for an NBA Title. Just last season the Hawks were the surprise team of the NBA, winning 60 games, sending four players to the All-Star game, and finishing first in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics, on the other hand, barely made the playoffs as the seventh seed with a 40-42 record and were swept away by LeBron’s Cleveland Cavilers.
This season the Hawks regressed by tweleve games as the Celtics improved by eight and it appears that these are two ships passing in the night. However, it is one thing to catch a team, it’s completely different to pass them. This is Boston’s opportunity to prove they are not just a scrappy upstart team but a true contender in the East.
Here are the five reasons the Celtics can upset the Hawks.
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