NBA BASKETBALL – FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2010
Boston Celtics (25-8) at Atlanta Hawks (22-12)
8 p.m. EST, TV: ESPN
In a battle of two of the upper-echelon teams in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics (first palce in the Atlantic) travel to play the Atlanta Hawks (second place in the Southeast) at Phillips Arena in Atlanta.
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Celtics vs Hawks Preview: January 8, 2010
The Hawks have won the only meeting between the two teams this season, at Boston.
The Celtics have won two straight games after a bit of a slump and are going to greatly benefit from the return of leading scorer Paul Pierce, who re-entered the lineup Thursday to help Boston eke out a 109-106 win over the Miami Heat. Missing Kevin Garnett, the Celtics are still a potent team with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo on the floor, plus a healthy stable of supporting players led by Kendrick Perkins and Rasheed Wallace. Still, missing Garnett and key bench player Marquis Daniels will impact their output.
Nobody in the NBA started the season hotter than Atlanta, but a recent four-game winning streak has shown that the Hawks are indeed, human. A players-only meeting combined with a game against the New Jersey Nets ended the losing streak, and without any injuries looming over their heads, playing good seems to just be a mental thing for Atlanta right now. On paper, their starting five: (Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford and Marvin Williams)seems to have as much potential as any in the league. None of those players, however, has much experience winning in the NBA.
The odds makers have the Hawks as -2 point favorites.
Boston will need to rely on a steady diet of Pierce, Allen and Rondo to win and hope that their group of reserves, mainly Perkins and reserve Glen Davis, can make up for the lack of Garnett in the post. The 1-2 punch of Josh Smith and Joe Johnson will likely deliver for Atlanta and then the Hawks will keep their feathers crossed hoping that mercurial forward Marvin Williams will help out frontcourt mate Al Horford in the post.
Look for Atlanta to play hard at home against a fellow Eastern Conference contender and win by five points.
- Atlanta is 10-5 ATS in its last 15 games
- Atlanta is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
- The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta’s last 7 games
- Atlanta is 1-4-1 SU in its last 6 games
- Boston is 16-4 SU in its last 20 games
- Boston is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
- Boston is 14-4 SU in its last 18 games on the road
- Boston is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Atlanta
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