Boston Celtics: 4 Keys to Beating the Atlanta Hawks

The playoff journey for the Boston Celtics begins tonight at 7:00 ET against the Atlanta Hawks. For the Celtics, given the fact that this may be their last playoff run together, it is championship or bust.

In order to raise Banner 18, the Celtics will first have to get through the Atlanta Hawks without home-court advantage.

The Hawks, while not necessarily an elite team, will be a tough first-round matchup for the Cs. However, if the Celtics can follow these four keys, they should be able to handle the Hawks and advance to the next round.

4. Turn Josh Smith into a Jump Shooter

Josh Smith is a great player.

That being said, he can sometimes get overconfident and play outside of his game.

If he were to just attack the rim for seven games, the Celtics would be in trouble.

Luckily, though, he is quite content to sit back and take long jumpers if you bait him into it. Granted, he still is a good jump shooter, but the Cs can live with him out there, because not only is it a less efficient place for him to score from, but it also takes him off the boards.

If you give him the shot, he'll shoot it, and for the Celtics, the best defense could be no defense.

3. Win the Battle of the Boards

Even with all of the struggles the Celtics have had on the boards this season, they still can out-rebound the Hawks.

The Hawks will be without Al Horford, and Zaza Pachulia is a little beaten up.

In a game just a few weeks ago against the Hawks, the Celtics out-rebounded them 56-39.

If everyone on the Celtics hits the boards, they can again out-rebound this Hawks team and gain a huge advantage.

2. Dominate the Backcourt Matchups

The Celtics should be able to dominate the Atlanta Hawks' backcourt of Jeff Teague and Kirk Hinrich, both on the defensive end and on the offensive end.

Rondo will be able to score much easier against the Hawks than against other teams this season.

On defense, both Bradley and Rondo should be able to force a lot of turnovers just by harassing the ball-handlers.

By dominating both guard matchups, the Celtics will put themselves in a good position to easily handle this Hawks team.

1. Keep Joe Johnson's Scoring in Check

Joe Johnson is definitely the scariest player on the Hawks, at least matchup-wise against the Celtics.

He is a shooting guard in a small forward's body, making him a difficult matchup for anyone on the Celtics. Because as great of a defender as Avery Bradley is, he can't make up for the five-inch difference.

When the Hawks and Celtics played a few weeks ago, Johnson could shoot over Bradley with ease.

The other option the Celtics have is to put Pierce on him, who isn't as quick but matches up better size-wise. The Celtics would be wise to give Johnson a healthy dose of both Bradley and Pierce so he can't get used to one defender.

If this can effectively work to limit his scoring, then the Hawks will have a tough time scoring enough points to beat the Celtics.