Atlanta Tomorrow Nite

How important is it for the Celtics to beat Atlanta at home tomorrow night? They have it as a back to back but they do have a few more hours to rest than the normal back to back. Is this game important in the scheme of things or is it just another game? Do they need to make a statement against Atlanta at home, or not?

After today's game, Rondo and Doc gave the usual party line about every game being important, but they also made it clear that they're very sensitive to how things have gone so far (Doc said the Hawks have "owned" the Celtics). So it seems pretty apparent that the Celtics will be up for Monday's game.

I hope Tony will be in good shape for that game. He didn't play much today, and I'm assuming he still needed to get back totally on his feet.

Usually, I'd be concerned about the short preparation time for an upcoming game. But the recent experience with the Hawks should go a long way toward preparing them for this one.

I also hope that Sheed's outburst today means he's finally getting better adjusted to his role with the starters. I believe that's been more of a problem than we all realize. He has seemed to be off balance when receiving the ball, which means his feet have not been set. That changed today, as everybody seemed to be less caught by surprise out there.

I do think it's a good sign that the Celts finally had a wire-to-wire win, with just a very slight letup toward the end. Hopefully, they'll relish the comfort level they can achieve by keeping the foot on the throttle.

Sam

Sorry, I didn't see the this post before I entered mine. Did it off an old screen from Friday. Thirty lashes. Thanks, guys and gals. db