Boston Celtics Draw a First Round Bye with Atlanta Hawks Matchup

Well, there's nothing like a little playoff scrimmage to get you feet wet.

The Boston Celtics’ dominance during the regular season earned them a venerable bye in the first round with the Atlanta Hawks' matchup.

As a confirmed Celtics fanatic, and someone who has spent the majority of this season sketching out what the 17th championship banner might look like up in the rafters of Boston Garden, I’ll be rooting for the Hawks to show up strong.

The C’s need to see some intensity before they meet the bona fide playoff teams. But the odds are against getting much of anything from the lowly Hawks.

I’d usually go into some matchups and detail what the Hawks need to do to win, but why? I’d honestly rather hear something from the Hawks contingent out there, from someone who believes in this team.

At the very least I'd like to hear if anyone has a grip on what the franchise's goals will be after they are swept from the first round.

Does the Hawks' front office plan on keeping Mike Bibby? How about Joe Johnson?

Joe carts off a ton of cash every year, but is he worth it? Do you trade him to get some depth? Would you like to shed his salary and get some bigs to put alongside Al Horford?

I know everyone likes Zaza Pachulia because he’s a big Caucasian dude, has a funny name, and plays hard. But homey ain’t gonna get you to the second round of the playoffs.

C'mon, Hawks fans, I left Marvin Williams out just so you have some place to go!

Now I realize that by calling out the fans it just looks like I don’t want to go through writing about the series. Here’s my thing about that—I’m being honest and admitting that the last thing I want to do is comment about the very obvious. It's a waste of time.

The Hawks are going to get stomped harder than a narc at a biker rally, so why go into the details of their being over-matched in every facet of the game?

What's more relevant to everyone scanning Bleacher Report is to know if any Hawks fans are actually sharing space with the other NBA fans in the universe (at least more than the three or four Hawks fans I envision).

It's not too far-fetched to think that if there are any Hawks supporters, they'll be willing to comment about the stinky nature of their team.

Look, I’m just standing tall and saying it out loud. I don't feel like I'm doing it in the limp-wristed Stephen A. Smith way—I feel like I'm doing this in a concerned-for-my-team kind of way.

I’m a Celtics fan, and I need some first round competition to get my team primed for a championship run. Unfortunately, I get the Hawks instead of a high caliber squad.