The Atlanta Hawks play host to the Boston Celtics in a crucial Eastern Conference showdown on Saturday night from State Farm Arena. The Celtics still sit near the top of the standings but a recent set of struggles has them hoping to get back to their winning ways. For the Hawks, a win last time out helped to get them back in the win column as well, and with the Eastern Conference race heating up, they know they need to find the home win. This is likely to be a close one on Saturday night an NBA fans of all kinds will want to be locked in.
The last few weeks have seen the Celtics struggling to get things going in a consistent direction and with four losses in their last six games, they want to try to parley a win the last time out into some confidence going forward. In the only meeting between the two this season, the Celtics dominated on the road, winning by 25 points, and they hope to replicate that performance. Efficient shooting and strong defense led the way, though with Atlanta having a few faces back that missed that matchup, it should be more of a challenge. The Celtics have a 20-12 record in road games this season and while far from terrible, it still leaves quite a bit to be desired. The road trip continues over the next week but with the quality of those opponents questionable, Saturday is a great opportunity to link together a potential winning streak.
The Celtics have been without Danilo Gallinari (knee) all season, though they have a pair of other injuries that they continue to navigate. Robert Williams III (hamstring) remains out for at least another week, while Peyton Pritchard (heel) is trending towards out in the backcourt as well.
Our goal for the upcoming road trip is to be more consistent and finish games strong ???? pic.twitter.com/3pAPvbz4ar
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 10, 2023
Even though it has been a struggle of late, the offense and defense have continued to play well. On the offensive end, they rank fourth in scoring, and against an Atlanta team that has struggled on the defensive end, will like their matchup on the offensive end. The Celtics will definitely miss Williams but continue to be one of the best offensive-rebounding teams in the league, which is likely to only be magnified in this one. The duo of Jayson Tatum (30.3 ppg) and Jaylen Brown (26.4 ppg) both have great matchups in this one but one player to keep an eye on is Al Horford, who will need to find a way to lead the charge in the frontcourt.
No House Advantage: Bet on player over/unders VS THE HOUSE to 21x your bet OR play in PICK 'EM contests against other people! Click here to get a 1st deposit match up to $100 1st w/ promocode WandW!