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According to a report by Howard Beck of the New York Times, the 2012 NBA Playoffs first-round series between the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks will begin on Sunday.
Sunday games will be Bos-Atl, Utah-SA, LAC-Mem and TBD-vs-Lakers. Saturday: TBD-vs-Chi, TBD-vs-Mia, TBD-vs-OKC, Orl-Ind.
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeckNYT) April 26, 2012
The venue for the game won't be determined until the outcome of tonight's games. The Celtics are locked into the fourth seed because of their Atlantic Division championship. However, home court advantage goes to whichever team has the better record and currently the Hawks are one game in front of the Celtics entering the final night of the regular season.
Atlanta can clinch home court with a win tonight at Philips Arena over the Dallas Mavericks or a Boston loss to Milwaukee. Should Atlanta lose and Boston win then the Celtics would get home court by virtue of owning the tie breaker advantage over the Hawks.
Update
Sunday start has now been confirmed
.@NBA announces #Hawks Game 1 vs. #Celtics Sunday. No time or rest of sked yet.
— Michael Cunningham (@ajchawks) April 26, 2012