After a come-from-behind victory in Milwaukee on Sunday, the Celtics return home for the second of three games against the Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics easily won their first meeting 123-93 in Atlanta on November 4. They will meet again in Boston on January 18. The Celtics are 246-148 all-time against the Hawks and 132-44 in games played in Boston.

The Hawks have been off since Saturday and won’t play again after this game until Friday, when they play the Wizards at home. They must be well rested, although they are also short-handed. They then go on a four-game road trip through Portland, Sacramento, Golden State and Chicago. They will then take on the Mavericks at home and then play a home-and-home set against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Celtics play back-to-back games in the first half. They play in Brooklyn on Wednesday. This is their second back-to-back set after winning both halves against the Hornets in the first. After Brooklyn on Wednesday, the Celtics host Toronto and then Cleveland before a road game in Washington. They return home for games against the Timberwolves and the Clippers.

The Celtics may be without some key players in this game. Jayson Tatum rolled his ankle on what should have been a Flagrant 1 on Giannis Antetokounmpo, but stayed in the game. He is questionable for this game. Al Horford is questionable for this game due to a left big toe sprain. He will likely miss this game and play against the Nets on Wednesday. Jaden Springer is questionable due to a knee injury. Kristaps Porzingis remains out as he recovers from ankle surgery. I’m not sure who will start if Tatum and Horford are both out. I think Tatum will play and Queta will start in place of Horford.

The Hawks will be very short-handed with seven players on the injury list. Vit Krejci is out with a right adductor injury. Bogdan Bogdanovic is out after a medical procedure to correct his right hamstring tendinopathy. Kobe Bufkin is recovering from a shoulder subluxation and is also out. Seth Lundy (ankle), De’Andre Hunter (knee) and Cody Zeller (personal) are also all out. Trae Young is also out due to right Achilles tendonitis. I’m assuming Keaton will replace Wallace Young in the starting lineup.

Likely Celtics starters

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Celtics Reserves
Payton Pritchard
Baylor Scheierman
Xavier Tillman, Sr
Jordan Walsh
Sam Hauser
Lucas Kornet

2-way players
J.D. Davison
Drew Peterson
Anthony Watson

Injuries/out
Kristaps Porzingis (ankle) out
Jaden Springer (knee) doubtful
Jayson Tatum (ankle) questionable
Al Horford (toe) questionable

Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla

Likely Hawks starters

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Hawks Reserves
Mouhamed Gueye
Garrison Mathews
Onyeka Okongwu
Larry Nance, Jr
David Roddy

2-way players
Dominick Barlow
Seth Lundy
Keaton Wallace

Injuries/out
Bogdan Bogdanovic (hamstring) out
Kobe Bufkin (shoulder) out
Vit Kretjci (thigh).
Seth Lundy (ankle) out
De’Andre Hunter (knee) out
Cody Zeller (personal) out
Trae Young (Achilles) out

Head Coach
Quin Snyder

Key matches

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  Jayson Tatum
  
  

  Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images
  

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  Jalen Johnson
  
  

  Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images
  

Jayson Tatum vs. Jalen Johnson
Johnson is averaging 19 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He is shooting 45.1% from the field and 30.2% from beyond the arc. In the first game against Boston, Johnson finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal while shooting 35% from the field and 28.6% on threes. Tatum may be after this and if so, whoever starts here will have to defend Johnson very well as he will likely be their best player.

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  Jaylen Brown
  
  

  Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images
  

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  Zacharie Risacher
  
  

  Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images
  

Jaylen Brown vs. Zaccharie Risacher
The number one pick in the draft started due to an injury to De’Andre Hunter and has been up and down in his play thus far. He is averaging 12 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1 block per game. He is shooting 37.9% from the field and 25.3% from beyond the arc. Against the Celtics in the first game against Boston, he finished with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists while shooting 40% from the field and 16.7% on threes.

Honorable mention
Derrick White vs. Dyson Daniels
Daniels is averaging 12.4 points, 4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 3 steals per game. He is shooting 45% from the field and 27.8% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics, he finished with 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal while shooting 44.4% from the field and not hitting a 3 pointer. Jaylen Brown is in his second game back from a hip injury and will hopefully be back to full strength in this game.

Keys to the game
Defense – Defense is always the key to winning games. The Celtics have a defensive rating of 108.7, which is 5th, while the Hawks have a defensive rating of 117.6, which is 26th. Against the Bucks, the Celtics allowed 69 points in the first half before locking down on defense to bring them to 38 points in the second half. The Celtics need to make defense a priority in this game and they need to play that tough defense for 48 minutes and not just when they are down and with their backs against the wall. The Celtics especially need to guard the paint as the Hawks are 4th in the league with 53.8 points in the paint per game.

Recoil – In addition to defense, rebounding is a key to winning. A big part of bouncing back is effort and desire. When the Celtics put in the extra effort, it usually carries over into the rest of their game. The Hawks are averaging 42.5 rebounds per game (20th), while the Celtics are averaging 45.3 rebounds per game (16th). The Celtics haven’t rebounded as well as they did last season and they need to aggressively chase every rebound. They can’t afford to give the Hawks extra possessions and second-chance points by letting them beat them with rebounds.

Effort and ball movement – The Celtics have started very slowly in recent games and found themselves in a hole. They then had to step up the effort and double down on defense to achieve a victory. The Celtics need to move the ball and not play hero ball. They also have to play with maximum effort for 48 minutes and not allow the Hawks to build a lead. If the Celtics build a lead, they should keep it and not allow the Hawks to come back. They need to get back to playing hard from the start and moving the ball throughout the game, not just when they are behind and desperate.

Depth – With both teams likely missing key players for this game, team depth will certainly come into play. Payton Pritchard has brought energy and efficient scoring off the bench and the Celtics need him to continue. Sam Hauser has been struggling with back pain since missing time and hopefully he can get back on track. The Celtics also need their backup bigs to pick up their games and fill in for missing players.

X factors
Home Court-They call it home field advantage for a reason and the Celtics need to take advantage of playing on their home court. The Celtics need to get motivation from the home crowd, which needs to be loud and do everything in their power to support the Celtics and rattle the Hawks. The Hawks have the distraction of travel, an unfamiliar arena and a hostile crowd and hopefully that will give the Celtics an advantage.

On duty – Officiating is always an x-factor. Each crew calls the game a little differently, some call it tight and others let them play. Some referees just make mind-bending calls, while others try really hard to get them right. Sometimes they are technically crazy about every little thing. In some games they call the 2 halves completely different. The Celtics need to adjust to the way the game is called and focus on playing the game and not the referee.

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