Celtics vs. Hawks Pick
After being hammered at home by the Cavs last night, will the Boston Celtics bounce back today when they hit the road to face the Atlanta Hawks at 8PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Celtics are favored on the road, as they are getting odds of -1.5 points against the Hawks. The over/under total for the game is listed at 208.5 points. The road team has won and covered the spread in both meetings this season.
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Boston suffered a 114-91 loss at home to the Cavs last night to fall to 50-28 on the season. They are now a game behind the Cavs for first place in the East and Cleveland owns the tiebreaker. The Celtics are 38-38-2 against the spread following last night’s loss. Boston averages 107.6 points per game this season while giving up 105.2 on defense. Away from home, Boston is scoring 105.9 while allowing 104.6 on defense. Isaiah Thomas is leading the team with 29.1 points and 5.9 assists per game.
The Hawks are coming off a 91-82 loss to the Nets on Sunday to drop to 39-38 on the season. Atlanta is in the sixth seed in the East right now, but only 1.5 games ahead of the next three teams. Atlanta is now 35-42 against the spread on the season following a failed cover against the Nets. The Hawks average 102.7 points per game on offense while giving up 104 on defense. At home, surprisingly, Atlanta averages 105 on offense while allowing 105.8 on defense. Dennis Schroder is leading the team with 18.1 points and 6.3 assists per game while Paul Millsap adds 18 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest.
This is a big gut-check for both teams. The Hawks are coming off a bad loss on the road and now return home while the Celtics were embarrassed in arguably their biggest game of the season to this point. The Hawks are rested, but I think the Celtics are going to come into tonight looking to prove a point. They should be plenty motivated to get last night behind them and focus on being a top playoff team.
NBA DAILY PREDICTION: BOSTON CELTICS -1.5