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This week's NBA Playoff games have been wild to say the least. As the desperation rises, so has the level of play and the excitement. We have just one game Thursday night — Celtics vs Hawks Game 6 (8:30 p.m. ET on TNT) — and given how the previous game ended, we could be in for another heart-stopping performance from the stars in this matchup.
As always, our analysts are ready to find tonight's game and have three best bets today. Read on for their analysis and expert picks for Celtics vs Hawks below.
NBA Odds & Best Bets
Boston Celtics vs. Atlanta Hawks
Bryan Fonseca: Let's take a shot at something feasible here.
Derrick White has been awesome in this series, and I could see a another meaningful role player performance from him in what should be a Celtics win … should be.
White is averaging 19.4 points this series on 59/50/91 splits. We care about that 50% from the 3-point line the most, and he's shooting 15-of-30 this series. He has hit three or more 3s on three of the five games this series, and he's putting up enough volume to make this a decent shot on something at plus odds. My only concern is he's taken more than five attempts just twice against the Hawks (seven attempts in Game 1 and nine in Game 4), but the Celtics have shot 40% on 3s, with White being their most reliable source of sharpshooting this series.
I think he gets it done — maybe the Celtics do, as well.
Boston Celtics vs. Atlanta Hawks
Brandon Anderson: I'm still not taking the Hawks particularly seriously, because I'm not convinced the Celtics have yet either.
Boston played with its meat, as Doc Rivers would say, and the Celtics gave away a closeout Game 5 they really should've had. They led by around 8 to 12 most of the game and were in total control right up until they weren't. Trae Young made a pair of 3s late to close the gap, then hit an ice cold 30 footer to keep Atlanta's season alive.
That's basketball sometimes, and Boston will pay down the road for its Tuesday night sins. The cost will come in attrition, mileage, and the extra rest provided to Joel Embiid and Philadelphia for next round.
But for now, I don't need much more analysis on this series yet. Boston just never shifted into top gear. The Celtics didn't even play their top guys max minutes. I don't expect them to make that mistake again, and I don't need much more analysis than that.
The Celtics are 4-1 SU in first quarters this series and +24 overall. They're even better in second quarters at 4-1 SU and +31 overall. Add it all up and that puts Boston +55 in first halves through five games, also 4-1 SU, with first half wins of 8, 12, 12, and 30.
Time to stop playing with your meat, Boston. Expect the Celtics to take care of business quickly so we can shift our attention to the NFL Draft instead.
Boston Celtics vs. Atlanta Hawks
Chris Raybon: The Celtics pulled what I like to call a Mike Budenholzer and choked away a potential series-clinching Game 5 late, but they are a good bet to start strong in Game 6. The Celtics led the league with an average point differential of +4.7 in the first-half during the regular season and were second in the league with a +2.7 mark on the road. Dating back to last postseason, Boston is 19-8 (70%) against the spread in the first half, including a stellar 11-3 (79%) ATS mark on the road.
That first-half dominance has been on display this series, with the Celtics topping 60 first-half points in each of their five games against the Hawks thus far. Boston led at the half in four of the five games, each time by a margin of at least eight points. On average, the Celtics have outscored the Hawks 66.6 to 55.6 in the opening two frames, shooting 54.1% from the field and 46.0% from deep.
Boston has come out balanced on offense in the opening two stanzas, with three players – Jayson Tatum (15.4), Jaylen Brown (12.2), and Derrick White (10.6) – each averaging double figures while Malcolm Brogdon (8.8) and Marcus Smart (8.4) aren’t far off. Defensively, Boston is holding Atlanta’s top two scorers Trae Young and Dejounte Murray to under 40% shooting.
Per our Action Labs data, good-but-not-elite road teams (defined as those with a straight-up winning percentage below 72% during the regular season) are 64-34-4 (65%) ATS in the first half of Game 6 since 2005, covering by an average of 2.8 points per game. I would bet this up to -5.5.
