Heading into the first round, the Boston Celtics drew the Atlanta Hawks--seemingly the most favorable matchup. The Toronto Raptors have a history of making things difficult, they struggled to rebound against the Chicago Bulls earlier in the season, and they have a long, irritating history with the Miami Heat.
However, the stat most failed to appreciate is that post-All-Star break, Atlanta had the fourth-best offensive rating in the NBA (120.1) and the fifth-best field goal percentage (49.7%). They are a .500 basketball team, but their offense turned up in the latter half of the season.