The consensus ahead of the first round series between the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics in the 2023 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs seems to be either an actual or a gentleman’s sweep, with the latter 4-1 outcome in favor of the Celtics seeming to be the most common estimation of series length among most league analysts.
But Boston has had a nasty habit of playing down to their opponents in ways that bite them later in the game, and Atlanta is finally starting to find some traction heading into the playoffs. Could we be overconfident in the series’ potential to go longer than five games?
