The playoffs, a time presented to us fans that encompasses joy, rapture and a stress level higher than a Jack Clark popup. Well, you know what I mean.

If the season were to end today, the Celtics would play the 35-40 Atlanta Hawks. The only other squad they might possibly face in the first round would be Philadelphia (38-37). But with Atlanta and Philly on tap for a home and home series this weekend, the Celtics’ first round matchup should be decided by Sunday.

As for Atlanta, they are a team that has won five games in a row and is actually stocked with some well-rounded players like point guard Mike Bibby, shooting guard and former Celtic Joe Johnson and power forward Josh Smith.

They are five wins ahead of last years final win total of 30 and are No. 15 amongst all NBA teams with 98 points scored per game. In addition, they are ranked 16th in the league with a 45.3 field goal percentage and are positioned a surprising 12th in the league with a mere 99.5 points allowed per game.

The Boston Bruins seemingly played the Washington Capitals every other game in the past two weeks. The two met again yesterday afternoon in Washington. After the B’s beat the Flyers in a thrilling overtime game on Saturday, Boston lost to the Capitals 2-1 in a shootout on Sunday. The good news, Boston  gained a point to move three ahead of the cut off for a playoff spot, the point also earns them a tie with the sixth place New York Rangers.

Boston, again played without their captain Zdeno Chara. Big Z missed a fifth straight game with an undisclosed upper body injury Sunday. Rumors that Chara might be shut down for the remainder of the season was dismissed by his agent, “He’s banged up, that’s about all I can say about it,” said Matt Keator. “He’s definitely not finished for the season. He should be fine. I don’t think he is going to miss much time at all.”

As for the game, Chuck Kobasew score again for the Bruins. After going 15 straight games without a goal, Kobasew finally scored his 20th of the season on Thursday in the Bruins’ 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay. After scoring three goals in his last three games, Kobasew has set a new career high in goals with 22.