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It’s official; the Boston Celtics will face the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs after the Hawks defeated the Miami Heat in the April 11 play-in game.
When speaking to the media following the game, Hawks guard Dejounte Murray noted that he isn’t concerned about facing the Celtics, as he wants to face off against the best teams in the league to compete at a high level.
“You got guys or people that always say, ‘you want to play this team, you don’t want to play this team,’ you know, obviously Boston’s at the top because they went to the finals last year,” Murray said. “But last year is last year. And,for me personally, I want the best, you know, obviously, just being competitive, and that’s just how I was raised – to want to play the best and obviously, they’re one of the best and it’s gonna be a great series and we’re gonna go out and try to win a series.”
Murray was a big part of the Hawks’ victory over Miami, contributing 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists on 43.8% shooting from the field and 37.5% from the perimeter.
Trae Young Ready to Turn Attention to The Celtics
When speaking after the game, All-Star guard Trae Young was honest about his thoughts on facing Boston, sharing that he hadn’t given them much thought, as his focus was on getting past Miami in the play-in.
“Obviously, Boston has a really good team, but I haven’t really looked like too far ahead,” Young said. “I mean, obviously, I’ve watched them all year playing; they’ve been playing really well. But I was really focused on tonight and making sure we won. I know Jimmy (Butler) guaranteed a dub, so I was really focused on making sure that didn’t happen.”
It will be interesting to see how Atlanta looks to scheme for Young on the defensive end, as Boston will certainly look to hunt him on mismatches when working in half-court situations. You can probably expect to see one of Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown hunting screens to get Young switched onto them defensively before they attempt to blow by him and pressure the rim.
Rajon Rondo Gives Boston a Strong Reminder
During an April 11 appearance on ESPN’s First Take, former Celtics champion Rajon Rondo issued a strong reminder to the current Celtics roster, noting how the city of Boston doesn’t hang conference championship banners in the TD Garden.
“It’s called Title Town. Bean Town,” Rondo said. “They expect to win. It’s been a very long time since their hoisted that trophy. So, going back to the Finals last year, and (not) getting it done that’s not gonna work. We don’t hang Eastern Conference banners in Boston.”
The Celtics fell short against the Golden State Warriors last year, losing to them in six games. As such, their 2022 Eastern Conference Finals banner went into storage. Now, the Celtics will be looking to raise the team’s first banner since 2008, assuming they can navigate through a tricky first-round series against the Hawks while remaining healthy.
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