Before the series started, I noted that the crux of Hawks-Celtics would come down to how Boston’s defense would handle Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, and Atlanta’s offense:
In the final fifteen games of the regular season, the Snyder-cut Hawks averaged the most points in the league at 124.1 a night. Sure, they played with pace to generate more possessions, but it’s not as if they were chucking up a bunch of three-pointers and getting out in transition. Instead, Atlanta excelled in the dirty work, the dirty work of fighting for offensive rebounds and the “dirty” work of getting to the free throw line.