Updated: Pachulia out versus Celtics
Vivlamore reporting from Philips Arena.
FOR A GAME THREAD TONIGHT, JEFF SCHULTZ WILL BE BLOGGING LIVE.
The Hawks will definitely be without center Zaza Pachulia for tonight’s key Eastern Conference matchup against the Celtics. Pachulia, who will miss his fourth straight game with a sprained left foot, did not take part in the morning shoot-around and coach Larry Drew ruled him out.
Drew said he had no further update on just how long Pachulia will be out. He did not practice Thursday but worked with trainers on the side.
Drew said he did not know whether Erick Dampier, who was unavailable Wednesday against the Pistons with a calf injury, would play. He called the back-up center a game-time decision. Dampier did take part in today’s shoot-around.
The Celtics, who held their shoot-around at Georgia Tech, did not travel with Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus. Coach Doc Rivers confirmed that he will rest Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, meaning the Celtics will be without three starters and two key reserves.
While he said both teams want to win tonight’s matchup, Drew said neither wants to show too much as they will very likely meet in the first round of the playoffs.
“With us and not knowing who they are going to have here tonight as far as guys who are going to play or not going to play, we have to keep that in mind,” Drew said. “We certainly have to keep that in mind because the last thing we want to do is to tip our hand totally. We want to go out and play well. We want to keep doing what we do. But at the same time if this is a team we are going to see in the first round we have to be mindful of that and not tip our hand too much.”
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
439 comments Add your comment
Luke Cage
April 20th, 2012
8:58 pm
no 3 sec calls I see
DawgNole
April 20th, 2012
8:59 pm
atlchris77
April 20th, 2012
8:53 pm
Espn is acting like the hawks are trying to give it their “A”game.
___________________________
I’m afraid they are giving it their A game. And if they’re not, they damn sure should be.
Big Lou
April 20th, 2012
8:59 pm
How are the Hawks at full strength?
They haven’t been all year.
Slimjr
April 20th, 2012
8:59 pm
She’s blasting tha Hawks cause they are screwing up and bout to lose to the scrubs who aint scrubs!
Luke Cage
April 20th, 2012
9:00 pm
This chick has never seen DEBO play obviously other than tonight
Blast
April 20th, 2012
9:00 pm
Celts fouling at will and refs letting them get away with it, even though the Celts are only playing their subs.
Sigh. Hawks will never get respect unless they win something big.
DawgNole
April 20th, 2012
9:00 pm
Najeh Davenpoop
April 20th, 2012
8:57 pm
All this Doris Burke criticism of the Hawks is fine with me, but what annoys me is when they then turn around and criticize the fans for not showing up to see this team which, by their own admission, is embarrassing themselves.
_______________________
Right on!
Slimjr
April 20th, 2012
9:01 pm
Wow that doc Rivers is an amazing coach! Wish we had him…..sigh……
atlchris77
April 20th, 2012
9:02 pm
Big minutes for our subs. That is when this game gets so close.
KBB
April 20th, 2012
9:03 pm
LOL, why is no one using Jeffs column as a live blog. I wondered why it only had 97 responses
City Of Atlanta Still Recovering From William Tecumseh Sherman
April 20th, 2012
9:04 pm
smh come on ivan stay on bass
Luke Cage
April 20th, 2012
9:04 pm
Calm down, The Great Thunder team lost to the Hawks minus Joe, Al & Willie. It happens to all teams. And they were completely healthy.
Rod from College Park
April 20th, 2012
9:05 pm
Boston in 4
City Of Atlanta Still Recovering From William Tecumseh Sherman
April 20th, 2012
9:05 pm
lol LD not putting the starters back in
Melvin
April 20th, 2012
9:06 pm
I will be glad when I see Marvin out of a Hawks uniform…
DawgNole
April 20th, 2012
9:06 pm
atlchris77
April 20th, 2012
9:02 pm
Big minutes for our subs. That is when this game gets so close.
____________________
What’s that got to do with anything? Celtics have had their subs in the entire game.
Tootsi
April 20th, 2012
9:07 pm
Marvin is a flat out disgrace. Looks like he gets more out of shape as the season goes along. Remember all that nonsense we heard about his back finally being healthy at the start of the year?
His duck butt is more out of control then it ever has been.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 20th, 2012
9:07 pm
“Calm down, The Great Thunder team lost to the Hawks minus Joe, Al & Willie. It happens to all teams. And they were completely healthy.”
It happens to the Hawks more frequently, though. And this game is vital for determining home court in the first round, which clearly matters more to the Hawks than the Celtics.
The difference between the Hawks and Thunder is that Thunder fans would be genuinely surprised if they lost a game to a depleted team, whereas we pretty much expect it. Losing (or squeaking by) in games like this is the Hawks’ identity, and it needs to change.
Big Lou
April 20th, 2012
9:08 pm
“What’s that got to do with anything? Celtics have had their subs in the entire game.”
Bradley and Bass are starters, not subs.
Let’s call a spade a spade. The Hawks are not really trying. They lost by only a shot against a fully healthy Celtics and once with an injured Ray Allen.
Blast
April 20th, 2012
9:08 pm
Hawks have to win this game. I don’t care by how many points. Doc is trying to make a statement, and Hawks cannot let him. Only way they can do that is win tonight.
City Of Atlanta Still Recovering From William Tecumseh Sherman
April 20th, 2012
9:09 pm
lol teague on the bench
Justin
April 20th, 2012
9:09 pm
Look, this has been a pathetic game by the Hawks. We know that. But this game is no indication of what the series with the Celtics will be like. The Hawks are a good defensive team and the Celtics have had trouble scoring against them when they were at “full strength.” The Hawks just don’t have the motivation tonight, Avery Bradley’s had a career night, and they’ve had way more turnovers than they typically have, which has led to a lot of points. The guards other than JJ have done nothing, and neither has the bench. They are fortunate if the win this one.
Luke Cage
April 20th, 2012
9:10 pm
I prefer the series where Tree Rollins bit Danny Ainge’s finger
Luke Cage
April 20th, 2012
9:11 pm
Willie B. Strokin’
Blast
April 20th, 2012
9:11 pm
Willie is tha man!
Hawks needs stops though.
DawgNole
April 20th, 2012
9:11 pm
Najeh Davenpoop
April 20th, 2012
9:07 pm
“Calm down, The Great Thunder team lost to the Hawks minus Joe, Al & Willie. It happens to all teams. And they were completely healthy.”
It happens to the Hawks more frequently, though. And this game is vital for determining home court in the first round, which clearly matters more to the Hawks than the Celtics.
The difference between the Hawks and Thunder is that Thunder fans would be genuinely surprised if they lost a game to a depleted team, whereas we pretty much expect it. Losing (or squeaking by) in games like this is the Hawks’ identity, and it needs to change.
______________________
You said a mouthful there.
terrell
April 20th, 2012
9:11 pm
Take Josh azz out.
atlchris77
April 20th, 2012
9:12 pm
Dawg. Pointis our subs are beating their subs.
Blast
April 20th, 2012
9:12 pm
Josh is trying to give this game away.
Luke Cage
April 20th, 2012
9:12 pm
A win is a win Doris, sometimes it ain’t pretty
City Of Atlanta Still Recovering From William Tecumseh Sherman
April 20th, 2012
9:13 pm
josh caught watching
Big Lou
April 20th, 2012
9:13 pm
Hawks aren’t trying. Lol
terrell
April 20th, 2012
9:13 pm
Where the hell is Teague?
City Of Atlanta Still Recovering From William Tecumseh Sherman
April 20th, 2012
9:14 pm
lmao celtics fans booing that loud wow
Luke Cage
April 20th, 2012
9:14 pm
LD doing Teague as he’s always done
City Of Atlanta Still Recovering From William Tecumseh Sherman
April 20th, 2012
9:15 pm
why are you asking for teague he hasnt done nothing all game
smh
April 20th, 2012
9:15 pm
man if were struggling with tier 2nd string imagine how bad we wil look against their starters
ntrigue
April 20th, 2012
9:15 pm
Why is Teague on the bench Drew come on bet kirk come back in before Teague!
Big Lou
April 20th, 2012
9:15 pm
They are not even trying to play D. It’s so obvious. I’ve watched enough games this year to know when they are playing around and when they are giving effort.
I garuntee that the Hawks win by 10 against the Knicks on Sunday.
terrell
April 20th, 2012
9:16 pm
Shouldve just sat Joe and Josh. Lose now and ESPN is gonna trash the Hawks, like we tried our hardest. Sad, but true.
DawgNole
April 20th, 2012
9:16 pm
Big Lou
April 20th, 2012
9:08 pm
“What’s that got to do with anything? Celtics have had their subs in the entire game.”
Bradley and Bass are starters, not subs.
Let’s call a spade a spade. The Hawks are not really trying. They lost by only a shot against a fully healthy Celtics and once with an injured Ray Allen.
_________________
Never said they weren’t starters. Just said the Celtics have been playing their subs the entire game, which is true–and which makes the previous poster’s point irrelevant.
The Hawks are not really trying?! You’re kidding, right? Geez, just when I think you’re on top of it, you let loose a fa*t bomb like that. Cmon, BL. You can do better.
smh
April 20th, 2012
9:16 pm
teague couldnt couldnt stop a 2 year old from running by him plus he cant hit a shor he can roll bring in marcus teague
Blast
April 20th, 2012
9:16 pm
Hawks gotta make things intresting, huh?
Crazy azz team.
But give Boston a lot of credit. Well coached, good bench, better than we thought.
Hawks gotta buckle up.
Big Lou
April 20th, 2012
9:16 pm
“man if were struggling with tier 2nd string imagine how bad we wil look against their starters”
Have you watched the last two games? What an idiotic statement.
City Of Atlanta Still Recovering From William Tecumseh Sherman
April 20th, 2012
9:16 pm
wow nique said something smart
terrell
April 20th, 2012
9:17 pm
Shouldve just sat Joe and Josh for the remainder of the game I meant.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 20th, 2012
9:17 pm
At least LD is playing Pargo at PG, and not Kirk. If you’re going to bench your best PG, better to play your 2nd best PG instead of your 4th best PG.
Big shot Joe.
O'brien
April 20th, 2012
9:18 pm
Big shot by Joe.
Najeh,
Josh is making plays on defense, but he has SEVEN of the Hawks 18 turnovers.
DawgNole
April 20th, 2012
9:19 pm
Big Lou
April 20th, 2012
9:15 pm
They are not even trying to play D. It’s so obvious. I’ve watched enough games this year to know when they are playing around and when they are giving effort.
I garuntee that the Hawks win by 10 against the Knicks on Sunday.
_____________________
A team that has gone a half-century w/o a championship is hardly in a postion to “not try” for a win. Then again, maybe that’s why they’ve gone a half-century w/o a championship.
Big Lou
April 20th, 2012
9:19 pm
“The Hawks are not really trying?! You’re kidding, right? Geez, just when I think you’re on top of it, you let loose a fa*t bomb like that. Cmon, BL. You can do better.”
Come on, man. I’ve watched enough games to know when they are. They have been half azzing it all night. That’s why they have so many turnovers.