Game 43 Preview: Celtics at Hawks

I'm sure you're all familiar with the cliche "there's no rest for the weary." But with the Boston Celtics, that's literally the case tonight.

The Celtics did not touch down in Atlants until 4:00 a.m. after last night's loss to the New York Knicks. That game started at 8:00 p.m., and the last time the Celtics won the second game of a back-to-back on the road after the first game began at 8 was when they were in...wait for it...Atlanta.

Will history repeat itself? We'll see, but Boston (20-22) has it's hands full tonight with the Hawks (24-18). Atlanta has won two straight coming into tonight's action. They didnt exactly defend their homecourt so well the last time the Celtics visited Phillips Arena. After a sluggish first half, Boston came out on the attack in the second half, led by a dominant 33-9 third quarter en route to an 89-81 victory.

Atlanta is dealing with some big injuries. They lost Lou Williams for the season due to an ACL tear. He erupted for 28 points the last time the Hawks faced the Celtics, so Boston won't have to worry about him. Hawks' coach Larry Drew told the media at the team's shootaround that Al Horford, Devin Harris, and Zaza Pachulia are all gametime decisions. If they all aren't able to go -- which is highly unlikely, but you never know -- this could get ugly.

Here's a preview:

Projected lineups:

Celtics:
Rajon Rondo
Avery Bradley
Paul Pierce
Brandon Bass
Kevin Garnett

Hawks:
Jeff Teague
Kyle Korver
Deshawn Stevenson
Josh Smith
Al Horford*

* gametime decision

Keys to the game:

1. Energy boost: As has been the case with the Celtics in recent years, the second night of back-to-backs have given this old team issues. In games like these, the Celtics need other guys to step up. Tonight would be the perfect opportunity for Brandon Bass and Jason Terry to steal the show. Bass, who has the lowest plus/minus on the team, and Terry, who hasn't scored more than 13 points since the calendar turned to 2013, are due for breakout games. In their last meeting, Bass scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooing. Terry and Bass have to provide that pick-me-up that this team might need tonight.

2. Picking up those boards: Boston did a nice job on the glass in their last visit to Atlanta, outrebounding the Hawks 44-36. They did even better on the offensive glass when they doubled up in that category 16-8. After comparing these two teams, statistically speaking they're very similar, so something has to give. Boston needs to edge Atlanta in this category to gain an advantage in this game.