Atlanta Hawks vs Boston Celtics Prediction: Atlanta to show their best at home

In the last year and a half, head-to-head encounters between Atlanta and Boston have not been much of a spectacle, but now the bookmakers anticipate a change. Should we expect a dramatic increase in performance?

The Hawks are one of the most unconventional teams in the NBA right now, as their starting five includes not only two point guards, but also two big men, John Collins and Clint Capela. In addition one of the key bench players Onyeka Okongwu is Capela's replacement, so centers are very important for Atlanta. The statistics support that: the Hawks lead the NBA in screen assists and are 3rd in points scored after the shutout. As for the club's main stars, Trae Young has lost efficiency and is still shooting less than 40% from the field. Dejounte Murray is playing at about the same level as he did with the Spurs, and De'Andre Hunter, averaging 15.6 points, has become the Hawks' 3rd offensive option. Perhaps something will change once Bogdan Bogdanovic returns to the lineup, but for now the Serbian is still in the sack.

Last regular season game, Nate McMillan's team defeated Milwaukee on the road, 121-106. Only Clint Capela shot over 50% from the field for Atlanta's starting five with 19 points. Trae Young was a good shot from beyond the arc but also shot well from midrange. Hunter was the most productive player on the team with 24 points, 10 of them coming from the free throw line. The bench played quite effectively with Jaylen Johnson, A.J. Griffin and Onyeka Okongwu being the most useful players. The win over the Bucks was the Hawks' 3rd in their last 5 games and allowed them to move up to 3rd place in the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics have long had a reputation as a very tenacious team, which is very good on defense, but this season that has not yet been true. Boston is more reliable on offense, and the Celtics are one of the best in the game on the fast break, but overall the reigning finalists lacked effort on offense. The Celtics have the worst defense in the NBA in terms of touchdowns, so there is much to be blamed for overall performance. Nonetheless, their offense has been running smoothly and Boston has won 7 straight and topped the Eastern Conference standings. In the meantime the coach of the team has successfully rotated the roster, resting Al Horford and replacing Malcolm Brogdon and Jaylen Brown on the fly. Brogdon's participation in the game with Atlanta is questionable, Robert Williams and Danilo Gallinari will definitely not play.

The day before Joe Mazzulla's team had some trouble beating Oklahoma 126-122. The starting five made only 4 of 24 three-pointers, but bench players Derrick White, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard had 6 three-pointers to go along with them. Jayson Tatum didn't have his best game, hitting 9 of 23 from the field, but he was still the highest-scoring player on the team with 27 points. Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown were more efficient, and White was 4th in scoring.

The Hawks play very fast basketball and often finish off the offense in the first seconds of possession. The starting five was ineffective last game, but the Hawks still managed to score over 120 points against Milwaukee. Boston was also far from perfect offensively against Oklahoma, there is room for improvement. The Celtics can shoot from beyond the arc and are 4th in the NBA in three-point shooting for a reason. The Celtics defend on the road less aggressively than they do at home, so there is good reason to expect a productive game. Our prediction for the Atlanta-Boston game is as follows:

• TO (232.5) for 1.668;
• H1 (+2.5) for 1.95;
• W1 (incl. OT) for 2.30.

Telecom Asia Sport is looking for tipsters from India. Contact jobs@telecomasia.net for more information.