Based on their regular season performance, predicting who the winner is between the Celtics and the Hawks should be a foregone conclusion. However, due to their roster make up and the matchups, I have a nagging feeling that this is one matchup that, if Atlanta play their cards right, can potentially see an early upset.
However, for this to happen, the Atlanta Hawks needs to shore up several points which might be difficult considering how they were only able to get through to the playoffs via the play-in tournament having fallen to 8th place in the regular season.
The Celtics finishing 2nd.
*Hawks Need to Soar Higher*
One of my three tick boxes that the Atlanta Hawks need to work on is three-point shooting, especially Trae Young.
In the first game, they only shot 5 out of the potential 29 they attempted with Young only making 1 out of 5. This needs to improve for them to have a chance at making this a competitive series and for Young, having once been considered as at par with Steph Curry, to return to form.
Secondly, Murray needs to be more of a facilitator having the length and the ability to penetrate the defense, creating for his teammates will be crucial in this matchup. Of course, he needs to continue to try to put an effort into scoring because this will draw the defense towards him giving his team a chance for open threes.
Lastly, the glaring hole in the paint which is going to be hard to do considering how the big men are being drawn out especially when Horford is on the floor because of his three-point ability. However, if they can at least leave one defender down there and then collapse as a unit to shore up the interior when someone takes advantage, then maybe.
However, as it stands, if the Celtics can continue to shut down their long range shooting and take advantage of their length and size, Boston should be able to win the series 4-1. If not, should be over in 6 games, the most.
For my other prediction, please click [here](https://open.substack.com/pub/darkazure/p/nba-playoffs-2023-first-round-predictions?r=1zp0go&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web).
by DarkAzuree
