The Atlanta Hawks haven’t beaten the Boston Celtics in five tries this season, regular season or playoffs. Will that change in Game 3 of their East first-round playoff series on Friday in Atlanta? NBA oddsmakers don’t think so.
Celtics vs. Hawks, Game 3 | 2023 NBA Playoff Expert Analysis
How to Bet Boston at Atlanta NBA Odds & TV Info
- When: Friday, 7 PM ET
- Where: State Farm Arena
- TV: ESPN
- Stream: ESPN+
- Radio: Tunein.com
- NBA Odds: Celtics -5 (total 228)
Why Bet on Boston?
After winning Game 1 by a score of 112-99, it was more of the same in Game 2 for Boston as it prevailed 119-106. The Celtics clearly are a matchup problem for Atlanta. Jayson Tatum finished Tuesday’s win with 29 points, 10 rebounds and six assists – similar to his regular season with averages of 26.5 points, 11.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists vs. the Hawks.
Derrick White started for the second game in a row over center Robert Williams and hit 11-of-16 shots on the way to 26 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. He became just the second guard in Celtics history to record at least 25 points and three blocks in a playoff game, joining Reggie Lewis. For the second game in a row, White scored at least 24 points and racked up multiple blocks. Through the first two games of the first-round series with Atlanta, he’s averaged 25.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.5 dimes and 2.5 swats while shooting better than 50% from the floor.
Atlanta star Trae Young seemed to hear the footsteps of White’s defense in the third quarter on Tuesday, short-arming two floaters as Boston pushed its lead to 20. White has been the best guard in a series that includes Marcus Smart (a Defensive Player of the Year), Malcolm Brogdon (a Sixth Man of the Year finalist), Young (a two-time All-Star) and Dejounte Murray (a 2022 All-Star).
Brogdon contributed 13 points, eight assists and seven rebounds off the bench. He led all Boston players in scoring, rebounds and minutes played.
“On any given night, it can be anybody,” said Jaylen Brown. “You just have to encourage that. I tell D-White all the time, ‘Be aggressive, be confident.’ That does open up the game, different spots during the same game, or different games down the line. Teams respect other guys who are on the floor, so we need much more of that from D-White. We need him to keep that up.”
The Celtics finished with 12 blocks and set a new NBA playoff record with just eight fouls Tuesday. Boston had 12 blocks and 10 steals, the first time it’s hit those numbers since May 14, 1985, against Dr. J and Moses Malone’s Sixers. Brown and White had more blocks (5) than the entire Hawks team (4).
Despite his satisfaction with the wins, Coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned after both games that the Celtics are still losing the shot margin, as Atlanta took 15 more 3-pointers while both teams took 53 2s and turnovers and free throws were just about even in Game 2.
Bet Boston to Win Today
MyBookie Betting Lines for the Game
Why Bet on Atlanta?
Boston led Game 1 by 30 points at halftime. It was over. It led Game 2 by 20 in the third quarter. It was over.
Hawks star Trae Young has been voted the most overrated player in the NBA, according to an anonymous poll of 54 NBA players conducted by Sam Amick and Josh Robbins on The Athletic. Young received 14.8% of the vote. He averaged 26.2 points per game this season, above his career-average of 25.5, and he posted a career-high 10.2 assists per game in the process, but has struggled in these playoffs. In the first two games of this series, he’s shooting 35 percent from the field and 23 percent from outside the arc. The Hawks have been outscored by 32 points in his minutes on the floor.
It has been a dramatic and ugly drop since the franchise’s centerpiece helped the Hawks engineer playoff upsets of the Knicks and Sixers two years ago and stretch the eventual champion Bucks to six games in the Eastern Conference finals.
“I can be better,” he said. “I didn’t shoot the ball very well. I had some turnovers when I was driving and (the ball) left my hands. But I’m going to be better at home.”
Young enters Friday’s game with 578 career playoff points and 196 career playoff assists. Should Young dish out his 200th career playoff assist, the 24-year-old would become the youngest player in franchise playoff history to register 500 points and 200 assists in the playoffs, passing Jeff Teague (26 years old) and would do so in his 24th career playoff game, the quickest to accomplish such feat in terms of games played in franchise playoff history (Doc Rivers: 40 games).
Dejounte Murray has been great and had 29 points, six rebounds and six assists in Game 2. He is the first Hawks player in franchise playoff history to have back-to-back games of at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, while swiping three-or-more steals. De’Andre Hunter had 18 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. It marked Hunter’s second double-double of the season, with his first coming during a Nov. 23 win over Sacramento.
Atlanta recorded 10 steals on Tuesday night against Boston, marking its second straight game with at least 10 thefts, becoming one of three teams in the 2023 NBA playoffs with back-to-back games of double digit steals. The Hawks are averaging 11.50 steals per game, the second-most steals per game by any team in the postseason. In the regular season, Atlanta notched 18 games of 10-or-more steals, the most such games by the club since the 2018-19 season (25).
This season, the club recorded a franchise-record 38 sellouts at State Farm Arena, topping the previous record of 25 set in the 2014-15 season. The Hawks are 6-2 in their last eight home games, averaging 129.4 points, 48.3 rebounds and 28.5 assists (.492 FG%, .374 3FG%).
Bet Atlanta to Win Today
MyBookie Betting Lines for the Game
Game Trends
- Celtics are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games overall.
- Celtics are 7-0 ATS in their last 7 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Hawks are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 Friday games.
- Hawks are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall.
- Celtics are 7-0 ATS in the last 7 meetings.
Expert Prediction
Hawks 122, Celtics 120
Jayson Tatum Drops 29 Points In Celtics Game 2 W!
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