The Boston Celtics will keep trying to get the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs when they play the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night to kick off a six-game road trip.
Boston will also travel to Houston, Minnesota, Portland, Utah, and Sacramento on the trip.
Atlanta has won consecutive games against the Washington Wizards. In Wednesday’s 122-120 victory, Trae Young made 11 of 14 field goal attempts, scored 28 points, and had 10 assists. In the victory on Friday night, 114-107, he had nine assists in addition to 28 points.
Atlanta, led by center Clint Capela, got eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds from De’Andre Hunter, who also had seven rebounds.
In the victory on Friday, the Hawks converted 15 of their 31 attempts at a 3-pointer.
Saturday’s down will be the second of three standard season gatherings among Boston and Atlanta. Jaylen Brown scored 22 points for the Celtics, who defeated the Hawks 126-121 in Atlanta on November 16 despite missing guards Marcus Smart (ankle) and Malcolm Brogdon (hamstring). Young scored 27 points, which was the most by any player. However, he missed five of his seven attempts at a 3-pointer and shot just 10 of 23 from the field.
Al Horford contributed 11 rebounds for Boston, which hit 21 3-pointers to win. Additionally, on April 9, the final day of the regular season, the teams will meet.
Payton Pritchard didn’t play in Boston’s 115-93 triumph over Portland on Wednesday due to a foot injury. Mazzulla said Pritchard might be out for a lengthy period. Additionally, center Robert Williams (hamstring) may return during the trip, according to Mazzulla.
