The Boston Celtics are in Atlanta tonight for game 3 against the Hawks. Boston leads the series 2-0, and has won each game comfortably. Atlanta, meanwhile, has kept it interesting at times, but has ran out of steam while trying to mount a comeback in back-to-back games. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Celtics are 5.5-point favorites.
Point Spread: Boston Celtics -5.5
O/U: 228 points
ML: Celtics -220, Hawks +184
Featured Parlay:
Injury Reports
Once again, the Celtics will only be without Danilo Gallinari (ACL), who’s missed the entire season recovering from surgery. Jaylen Brown’s hand was a subject of concern again following the game, but both Brown and Joe Mazzulla assured he’s feeling fine, and he did not come out of the game because his hand was bothering him.
.@Joe_Sway asked Jaylen Brown about how hand feels following the #Celtics Game 2 Win vs the #Hawks
Full Game 2 Postgame Interview: https://t.co/uzatCQzpZ7#Celtics #NBA #Hawks #NBAPlayoffs
⚡️by @FDSportsbook pic.twitter.com/w66Ym71yNC
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) April 19, 2023
Atlanta is fully healthy and should roll out the same starting five tonight.
Celtics Starting Lineup
PG: Marcus Smart
SG: Derrick White
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Al Horford
Hawks Starting Lineup
PG: Trae Young
SG: Dejounte Murray
SF: De’Andre Hunter
PF: John Collins
C: Clint Capela
Boston Celtics Overview
The Celtics once again dismantled the Hawks on Tuesday night, and that was in big part to their emphasis on attacking the paint. In both games so far, Boston ended with just 33 attempts from three, well below their season average of 42.6 per game. However, against a team like Atlanta, you don’t need to rely on threes. In game 2, the Celtics scored 64 points in the paint and generated a lot of scoring in transition. The transition scoring in particular flustered the Hawks, leading to countless poor possessions and turnovers, especially near the end of the second half. This is something Boston can and should continue to exploit tonight, and there’s little doubt that they’ll switch up their game plan until Atlanta shows they can stop it.
There’s really not much you can ask the Celtics to improve upon this series, but one thing to watch will be how the third quarter plays out. Through the first two games, the Celtics have been outscored 63-49 coming out of the half, allowing Atlanta was able to strike back and considerably cut into big leads. Ultimately, the team has handled these pushes from the Hawks extremely well, and Mazzulla even took a shot at a reporter who brought it up as something to improve on after game 1. Unlike the first two games though, the Hawks can feed off the energy of their home crowd if the same thing happens tonight. The Celtics should be well-equipped to handle this hostility, but it will be interesting to see how that changes things.
Atlanta Hawks Overview
Coming into the series, it never seemed like the Hawks had a real shot, and that certainly holds true now. However, they have the ability to take a game, especially in front of their home faithful. They have to limit the Celtics’s massive first half runs, and that starts with slowing things down and eliminating turnovers. After the first half of game 2, the Hawks had 9 turnovers, some of them a result of trying to speed up to match Boston’s pace. Atlanta certainly has the personnel to play fast — and they finished 6th in regular season pace of play — but that cost them points in a game where they still managed to cut the lead to 9. Staying within themselves can help soften Boston’s huge runs, saving them some energy if they make another second half comeback surge.
Leading the comeback in both games was Dejounte Murray, who has really come to play so far. Through two games, he’s doing it all on offense, averaging 26.5 ppg, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists to go with a few big steals. He’s been consistently taking what the Celtics defense is giving him — the midrange jumper — and knocked down 7 threes on Tuesday. Trae Young so far has had mixed offensive showings (to go with abysmal defense), but the Hawks have to at least feel confident that their big offseason acquisition can be the main scorer and keep them in this game.
Prediction
Despite the final score of the first two games, this hasn’t been a totally lopsided series. Still, Atlanta has only made each game close when Boston takes their foot off the gas, something they can do when they get up 20+. Once these games have gotten close, the Celtics time and time again show they’re just a superior team on offense thanks to their length and three point shooting. The Hawks have the capability to steal a game — especially if they cut down on turnovers — and it wouldn’t surprise me if this series ended a gentleman’s sweep. For now though, I’m sticking with Boston to silence the Hawks’ home crowd.
