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After Wednesday's thrilling, improbable win over the Heat -- I knew the final score before I watched the game in the League Pass Broadband archives and still couldn't believe we won - the Celtics travel to Atlanta to play the Hawks. The game starts at 8 p.m. Eastern and will be broadcast on ESPN.

After an excellent start to the season -- which included a convincing 97-86 win in Boston -- the Hawks recently lost four in a row, getting well only in their last outing, against the Nets (and everyone gets well against 3-32 New Jersey). The first two of those losses came against Cleveland, and the second of those is, as far as I know, still under protest. It's possible that Atlanta's subsequent losses to the Knicks and Heat were due to the residual effects of those disappointing defeats.

When these teams met in November, the Hawks just out-worked Boston on the Cs' home floor, grabbing scads of offensive rebounds and playing with the confidence they seem to reserve specifically for the Celtics. Only Paul Pierce was assertive offensively, and at the time, I called out Rajon Rondo for only taking four shots. Rondo's become much more aggressive as the season's gone on -- particularly in the absence of Pierce and Garnett, the latter of whom isn't expected to play Friday -- and I hope that continues even though Pierce is back; Mike Bibby just can't guard the young Boston point guard.

This is actually the first of three January matchups between these clubs; we see the Hawks again in Boston on Monday, and then we're back in Atlanta on the 29th. When they were going good at the start of the season, Atlanta was threatening to make the East -- presumed to be up for grabs among Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando -- a four-horse race. (With the Cavs struggling at the time, some even suggested the Hawks might be the third-best team in the conference.) How Atlanta plays Boston this month -- not just Friday night, but in the three games overall -- will be a good litmus test for Atlanta. (They've also got the Magic in Orlando on Saturday, which may be the toughest three-games-in-four-days stretch we see in the NBA this year).