NBA Betting – Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics

Atlanta Hawks (-7, 202.5 o/u) at Boston Celtics

The Atlanta Hawks (43-10) are no longer the hottest team in the league, having lost two of their last five games. However, the team has built up a massive lead in the Eastern Conference and is still playing solid basketball at both ends of the court. Tonight, the Hawks will try to continue their fantastic season when they visit the Boston Celtics (19-31) at TD Garden Arena (7:30 p.m. Eastern).

Despite the two recent setbacks, the Hawks have won 21 of their last 23 games and have the best record overall in the NBA. Teamwork has been the key to Atlanta’s success this year; despite having three All Stars (Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap, and Al Horford), the Hawks don’t have a bona fide superstar who leads the team.

On offense, Atlanta’s unselfish play has the team sitting second in assists-per-game at 25.8. The Hawks’ tenacious yet disciplined defense is fourth in the association, giving up just 96.8 PPG.

On the other side of the floor, the Boston Celtics are having an up-and-down – but mostly down – year. The team has split its last ten contests, with both a three-game winning streak and three-game losing streak built in. The Celtics are currently on the outside looking in with respect to the Eastern Conference playoff pictures, sitting 11th.

However, they are just two games back of eighth-place Charlotte and play in arguably the weakest conference in the league. If Boston can find some more consistency down the stretch, in particular against their weak division foes, the team should be able to make a playoff push.

Jeff Green leads an offense that has fared surprisingly well since the departure of star point guard Rajon Rondo. The small forward is averaging 17.6 points per game in the last ten contests. Jared Sullinger, Avery Bradley, and Kelly Olynyk are also averaging in double-figures for the team, which is still scoring over 100 points per night.

If the Celtics hope to make the playoffs, one area they will have to improve, of course, is on defense. Boston is surrendering 102.6 points per game, fifth worst in the league.

The Hawks are currently a seven-point favorite for tonight’s game despite playing away from home. Atlanta beat Boston 105-91 at TD Garden the last time they met in January. With Olynyk out for the Celtics, look for the Atlanta bigs to overwhelm Sullinger and for the Hawks to cover.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)