I'm not saying the Hawks are going to win the series, but they have stumbled upon Boston's glaring weakness (from back in November):
Where the Celts fall flat (and where they will end up getting in a lot of trouble down the stretch) is that they allow a terrible 27.2 FT per 100 FG. If someone gets into the lane (cough…Dwight Howard…cough...LeBron...cough), the Celts have trouble defending.
Last night the Celts went 10-18 from the line while the Hawks went 29-33. They gave up 27 free throws in their first loss to Atlanta. The Celtics ended the season giving up 25.3 FT/FG, which was good enough for 24th in the league. A good defense can go to hell in a hurry if it gives up this many free throws...especially against quicker, more athletic opponents.
Also, Josh Smith is going to get paid (from a post about who the Wolves should take a free agent run at if they could clear a bunch of cap space):
That being said, I think your route 1 option is to take a big run at Josh Smith. The guy is young and on the verge of stardom. He's has 20/10/5 kind of potential (he also blocks shots and gets steals). Atlanta will likely match but if you can get rid of some dead weight (cough...Tubby McThreeball...cough) you may be able to overpay enough where Atlanta will balk at signing a relatively unproven talent. Granted, this guy is neither a point or an Al's Big Buddy, but he's good enough to take your chances. You then move on and hope for either a point or a big man in the draft. Mark my words: Josh Smith will be the long term star of this free agent class.
He's also 22 years old. Why can't high schoolers enter the NBA again?