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Carrie Stroup here with your Celtics vs. Hawks betting line for Tuesday night: Atlanta -3, Total: 204.5
BOSTON CELTICS (7-6) at ATLANTA HAWKS (9-6)
The Hawks will be looking to end their recent struggles when they host the Celtics on Tuesday.
Boston is coming off of a 111-101 loss in Brooklyn on Sunday, but the team has still won-and-covered in four of its past six games. Atlanta, meanwhile, has been extremely disappointing over the past few weeks. The Hawks lost 109-97 in Cleveland on Saturday for their fifth loss in their past seven games. They have covered in just one of those seven contests and will need to turn things around with a home victory over the Celtics.
These teams have played each other pretty close over the past few seasons, as they have split victories SU in the past eight meetings. Boston, however, is 5-3 ATS in those games and that includes a 2-1 ATS mark in Atlanta. Six of the past eight games played between these teams have gone Under the total as well. One thing favoring the Celtics in this game is that they are 26-10 ATS as a road underdog over the past two seasons. It won’t intimidate the Hawks, though, as Atlanta is 19-8 ATS when revenging a loss where its opponent scored 100 or more points over the past two seasons.
The Celtics will be looking to pick up a big victory in Atlanta on Tuesday and PG Isaiah Thomas (21.1 PPG, 6.5 APG, 1.5 SPG) will need to have a big game in order for them to do that. Thomas had 27 points and six assists in a loss to the Nets last game and is playing some very good basketball this season. He had 23 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals the last time he faced the Hawks this season and should be even better this time around. Jeff Teague is the guy that will be tasked with guarding him, but Teague has a sore ankle and may struggle to keep up with Thomas’ speed.
SG Avery Bradley (15.0 PPG, 1.5 SPG) will also be a key factor in this backcourt. With Marcus Smart out, Bradley is getting more minutes and he is now averaging 24.0 PPG and 2.0 SPG over the past two contests. If he can continue to score the ball like that then this team will be hard to beat. In the frontcourt,
C Jared Sullinger (10.9 PPG, 8.8 RPG) will need to starting playing better for Boston. He is averaging 10.4 PPG and 9.4 RPG over the past five contests, but he is shooting just 36.4% from the field and 27.3% from three. If he is not more efficient then his team will have a tough time coming away with a victory in Atlanta.
The Hawks will be looking to turn things around on Tuesday and PG Jeff Teague (16.8 PPG, 6.3 APG, 1.3 SPG) will need to play well against Isaiah Thomas in this one. Teague had 13 points and four assists in 26 minutes of action last game and is dealing with a sore ankle. If he is not able to play like his usual self, then this team will struggle to guard Boston’s quick group of guards.
One area where the Hawks will have a clear advantage is in the frontcourt, where PF Paul Millsap (17.9 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 3.7 APG, 2.1 SPG, 1.1 BPG) and C Al Horford (16.7 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.7 BPG) will look to go to work against a weak Celtics group of bigs. Millsap had just 14 points and eight boards the last time he faced the Celtics and Horford wasn’t much better, finishing with 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Both guys will need to make more of an impact on the glass and they will need to try not to be so unselfish, as Atlanta will need them to score more in order to get themselves back on track.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
