PREMIUM
Rogers' 10* TOTAL MASSACRE >> 9-3 Weekend! +$12,732 NBA Profit!
(NBA) Atlanta vs. Boston,
Total: 211.50 | -110.00 Under
Result: Win
Total: 211.50 | -110.00 Under
Result: Win
The set-up: The 32-26 Atlanta Hawks visit the TD Center Monday night to face the 38-21 Boston Celtics. The Hawks limp in on a three-game slide while the Celtics ended a two-game skid with Sunday's 104-98 win at Detroit.
Atlanta: Tbe Hawks have been awful offensively during their current three-game losing streak, averaging only 86.7 PPG. Atlanta's three-game slide is its longest since a seven-gamer from Nov. 25-Dec. 5. Atlanta opened the season 9-2 but has gone 23-24, since. "We don't want to be a .500 team," head coach Mike Budenholzer said Saturday night. "You have to go out on the court and execute on both ends of the court. At the end of the day, if it's 20 games and we are .500 we have to be honest with ourselves and find ways to improve whether it be small things or big things." However, the Hawks are starting to look exactly like a .500 team. PG Dennis Schroder (17.4 & 6.3) returned from a team-imposed one-game suspension to face Orlando on Saturday but he didn't start and finished 4-of-17 from the floor (11 points). Tim Hardaway Jr. (13.1)scored a team-high 15 points but was the only starter to hit at least half of his FG attempts, as Atlanta shot under 40 percent for the second straight time in an 'ugly' 105-86 loss to the sad-sack Magic.
Boston: All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas (29.7 & 6.2 APG) scored 33 points in Sunday's win and has now scored at least 20 points in a franchise-record 43 games in a row. Thomas made the game-winning basket with 2.4 seconds left to lift Boston to a 103-101 win back in Atlanta when the teams met for the first time this season (Jan. 13). Ex-Hawk Al Horford signed a FA deal with the Celtics this past off-season and overall (14.2 & 6.6), has had a solid season. However, he was 2-of-11 in the win over Detroit and has been held to single digits in points in three consecutive games for the first time since March 2009. Boston has been without Avery Bradley (17.7 & 6.9) for 22 of the last 23 games because of an Achilles strain but he is getting close to a return.
The pick: The Celtics would loved to take advantage of the struggling Atlanta Hawks as after the Hawks leave town the Celtics host Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland (which leads Boston by three games) and then leave for five straight on the road. However, it should be noted that Boston has had trouble holding leads since the break. The Celtics blew a 17-point lead and lost at Toronto in their first game back from the All-Star break on Friday night, then failed to hold a 15-point advantage against the Pistons before winning Sunday. As for the Hawks, after three awful shooting games, I look for a return to normalcy (Atlanta averages 103.2 PPG). Boston averages 109.9 PPG at home, so the Over is a 10* play.
Atlanta: Tbe Hawks have been awful offensively during their current three-game losing streak, averaging only 86.7 PPG. Atlanta's three-game slide is its longest since a seven-gamer from Nov. 25-Dec. 5. Atlanta opened the season 9-2 but has gone 23-24, since. "We don't want to be a .500 team," head coach Mike Budenholzer said Saturday night. "You have to go out on the court and execute on both ends of the court. At the end of the day, if it's 20 games and we are .500 we have to be honest with ourselves and find ways to improve whether it be small things or big things." However, the Hawks are starting to look exactly like a .500 team. PG Dennis Schroder (17.4 & 6.3) returned from a team-imposed one-game suspension to face Orlando on Saturday but he didn't start and finished 4-of-17 from the floor (11 points). Tim Hardaway Jr. (13.1)scored a team-high 15 points but was the only starter to hit at least half of his FG attempts, as Atlanta shot under 40 percent for the second straight time in an 'ugly' 105-86 loss to the sad-sack Magic.
Boston: All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas (29.7 & 6.2 APG) scored 33 points in Sunday's win and has now scored at least 20 points in a franchise-record 43 games in a row. Thomas made the game-winning basket with 2.4 seconds left to lift Boston to a 103-101 win back in Atlanta when the teams met for the first time this season (Jan. 13). Ex-Hawk Al Horford signed a FA deal with the Celtics this past off-season and overall (14.2 & 6.6), has had a solid season. However, he was 2-of-11 in the win over Detroit and has been held to single digits in points in three consecutive games for the first time since March 2009. Boston has been without Avery Bradley (17.7 & 6.9) for 22 of the last 23 games because of an Achilles strain but he is getting close to a return.
The pick: The Celtics would loved to take advantage of the struggling Atlanta Hawks as after the Hawks leave town the Celtics host Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland (which leads Boston by three games) and then leave for five straight on the road. However, it should be noted that Boston has had trouble holding leads since the break. The Celtics blew a 17-point lead and lost at Toronto in their first game back from the All-Star break on Friday night, then failed to hold a 15-point advantage against the Pistons before winning Sunday. As for the Hawks, after three awful shooting games, I look for a return to normalcy (Atlanta averages 103.2 PPG). Boston averages 109.9 PPG at home, so the Over is a 10* play.
