Atlanta Hawks at Celtics: Game 6 thread

Boston–The Celtics said Paul Pierce has a sprained left MCL. Doc Rivers: “It’s not the best situation but he’s going to play. We have to find out what he can do on the floor. We have to find the most effective way he can score. He said he has more life energy-wise [than Game 5], but the knee is the same.”

• Same starting lineup for Hawks. Larry Drew on the lineup in Game 5: “It did pretty much what I expected. We’ve been waiting on Marvin [Williams] to make some shots. He’s had some good looks.”
• Drew on Hawks’ health: “They are holding their own. We have got some guys that are a little banged up. But looking around the league, other teams do as well. It’s playoff time. The play has been very physical. We have just got to push through it.”
• Drew on Josh Smith: “I think he’s getting better. He’s been battling a sore knee pretty much the whole season. He’s been quiet about it. He knows we need him and he has to play hurt, so that’s what he’s doing. I give him a lot of credit for that. I do think he’s showing signs of the knee improving.”
• Josh said he would spend extra time pregame getting warm: “I feel a little better. It takes a little bit of time for the knee to get warmed up.”
• Zaza Pachulia got up some shots at shootaround for the first time since he injured his foot. “It went well,” he said. “Honestly I wasn’t expecting to participate in the shootaround. Mindset leaving hotel was kind of watch it. Went up to doctor, he ran a couple tests and said, ‘Why don’t you try to shoot?’ Body was feeling great. I was able to finish.”
• Zaza said a return in the second round if the Hawks advance is “more realistic” than playing in Game 7 Saturday if they win tonight.
• Drew on minutes for Al Horford and the other starters: “These guys have been piling up a lot of minutes. It’s just a situation where we are trying to win a game. If the game is getting away from us, I have got to get my starters back in there. This is do or die for us.”
• Al said he feels like his defensive timing is off in help situations but “on the ball I feel strong.”
• More Al: “For sure I have fresher legs but I don’t know if that’s totally an advantage. These guys have been in a rhythm. I’m just trying to make it work for me.”
• Josh on Al: “He has fresher legs than everyone in the series. Why not play him?”
• Drew on Kirk Hinrich’s limited playing time after halftime in Game 5: “I anticipated playing Kirk more in the second half. But Jeff [Teague] has the speed and we needed that. As long as [Rajon] Rondo is in the game, Jeff will be in there defending him.”
• More Doc Rivers on Pierce’s knee: “He’s not going to get to the line as much. That’s just the way it is. We have to create other ways. We can get Kevin to the post more but they are doubling him so it makes it hard for him to get to the line, too. We have to create other ways.”
• Don in Mickael Pietrus’ shooting struggles: “When your shot doesn’t go in and you are not a great player, then it can cause your confidence to drop.” Doc said Marquis Daniels could take some of Pietrus’ minutes: “He can guard Joe [Johnson] almost as well. But the thing with ‘MP’ is they still guard him at the 3-point line. With Marquis, they would not. It would be another guy they could leave.”
• Drew on the keys to getting off to a better start here than in Game 4: “Shot selection and not turn the ball over. We were in a hurry last game. We made a lot of early, ill-advised passes. We didn’t explore our options. We were looking to one side, and Boston is too good for that.”
• Josh on the Celtics: “I see them trying to come out early and establish themselves and get the crowd into it and try to make it into a physical game.”

Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat