Last season, when the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks faced in the playoffs, the Hawks had the upper hand, winning the series in six games. In game three, things got a little bit chippy between Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas and Hawks point guard Dennis Schröder. Thomas’ arm struck Schröder’s head, Schröder was upset. The German-born point guard hasn’t forgotten the incident, and brought it up again, months later. The Hawks play the Celtics today, and Schröder doesn’t want a repeat of events. From Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
“If he don’t slap me, nothing is going to happen,” Schroder said Friday morning. “If we keep it competitive, just fighting for balls, then nothing is going to happen. Then both of us will try to win the game. That’s fine but slapping or something else is not okay with me.”
Schroder said despite the incident he feels no extra motivation in the individual matchup.
“I didn’t think he would do that at first,” Schroder said. “But you never know. I’m not saying that he is a bad player because of that. Tonight is a big one for us, the Hawks, and the team is bigger than anything else.”
This is a big game, as far as games in January go. The Celtics, with a 24-15 record, are third in the Eastern Conference, while the Hawks sit just a game-and-a-half behind them in the fourth seed.
