NBA Betting Preview: Boston Celtics at Atlanta Hawks

Added on Apr 01, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

Friday night serves up a nationally televised Eastern Conference battle between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics are currently in second place in the East and are coming off a victory at San Antonio on Thursday night. The Hawks will most likely finish the season in the #5 spot in the East.

Boston Celtics at Atlanta Hawks
April 1, 2011 5:05 PM Pacific

This isn’t an April Fool’s joke–we’re actually going to take a wagering position on the Atlanta Hawks. We’ve picked on the Hawks for much of the season and have looked to go against them as often as possible. And why not? There may not be a bigger collection of head cases and malcontents in the NBA. Atlanta has plenty of talent, but they’re also a team that often looks like they don’t care whether they win or lose on any given night. Having said that, the Hawks are on something of an uptick lately going 4-2 SU/5-1 ATS. And for whatever reason Atlanta has given the Celtics fits at various points over the past few years including being a ‘thorn in the side’ of Boston during the postseason. It could be a case that Atlanta is finally exerting a solid effort with the playoffs on the horizon. Regardless of the motivation, the Hawks have covered 6 of the last 10 in the series dating back to 2008.

The Celtics got the money last night at San Antonio but are a notoriously bad investment during the regular season. Even with last night’s cover Boston is in the midst of one of their infamous late season doldrums as they play out the string until the postseason begins. Celtics are currently on a 6-10 ATS run and are just 5-5 SU in their last 10 games. Most significantly, Boston has been terrible in the second of back to back games–at least from a pointspread perspective. Celtics are currently on a 1-8 ATS run in the second of back to back games and the athletic Hawks are a bad tactical matchup in this situation. Strangely enough, the Hawks inconsistent play works in our favor here giving us some value. With Boston’s sloppy play down the stretch and horrible record in the second of back to back games we look for the Hawks to win this one outright with relative ease. It might be the last time Atlanta exerts an effort for 48 minutes until the playoffs begin.

Bet Atlanta Hawks +1′ over Boston Celtics