Celtics vs. Hawks Pick
Will the Boston Celtics win a ninth straight game Monday night at 7:30PM EST when they play at the Atlanta Hawks?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Celtics are listed as an 8.5-point favorite on the spread line. The over-under is set at 205 points.
Boston improved to 8-2 on the season Sunday night with its eighth straight victory, a 104-88 triumph at the Magic. Atlanta is 2-8 following a 117-115 win at the Cavaliers Sunday afternoon. The Hawks won two of three meetings last season straight up and ATS. The over-under went 1-1-1.
The Celtics were led by Jaylen Brown at Orlando as he tallied 18 points and seven rebounds. Al Horford contributed 14 points and 10 boards. Jayson Tatum added 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. Boston outscored the hosts 27-19 in the fourth quarter to pull away.
Atlanta ended its eight-game losing streak with the win at Cleveland. Dennis Schroder scored 28 points and dished out nine assists. Luke Babbitt and Taurean Prince both had 17 points. The Hawks were outscored 37-26 in the fourth quarter but managed to hang on.
Boston is 1-4 ATS in the last five meetings. The under is 4-1-1 in the last six meetings.
The Celtics are on cruise control right now, almost as if they didn't lose their prized free agent signing Gordon Hayward to a gruesome broken ankle six minutes into the season opener. On a back-to-back with travel, this spread might be a little high. Atlanta showed against Cleveland it has some fight left. Not saying the Hawks will upset Boston, but keeping it close seems likely.
NBA DAILY PREDICTION: ATLANTA HAWKS +8.5