NBA PLAYOFFS
Hawks vs Celtics game 2 odds and predictions: Who is the favorite?
The series favorites defeated the Hawks in their first game in Boston, but Atlanta will look to improve their performance in Game 2. Who gets it done?
The Boston Celtics will try to record their second win in the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks at the TD Garden in Boston.
Joe Manzulla’s men ended the regular season as the second-best team in the league, finishing second in the Eastern Conference with 57 wins and 28 defeats, only behind the Milwaukee Bucks.
In the first game, the hosts had a very solid performance in the first half, while the Hawks didn’t have their best night, shooting just 33% from the field and being held to 44 points at halftime.
The Hawks, who are now 0-4 against the Celtics this campaign, will need more accuracy from the field if they want to emerge victorious.
Quin Snyder’s side shot just 38.8% from the field overall in game one and just 17% from three-point range.
The Hawks star Trae Young, who scored 16 points, admitted after the game that the main issue was the huge distance the Celtics took during the first half.
“You can’t be down that much and expect to come back and win. But we still fought. We were being aggressive in that second half”, he admitted.
The Celtics, who were leading their opponents 74-44 at halftime, are looking to get to the NBA Finals again after being defeated by the Golden State Warriors last season.
Hawks vs Celtics: prediction
The Hawks will need to change many things if they want to stand a chance of defeating the Celtics at the TD Garden.
Besides accuracy from the field, Young will need to improve his game and Snyder’s side will have to be more efficient in defense, especially in the first half to get to the third and fourth quarters with real possibilities of winning.
However, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, both with 29 and 25 points, respectively, are in red-hot form and will be looking to repeat their performance in front of their fans.
That being said, they will need to give their best for the whole game if they don’t want any surprises, as in Game 1 they saw how Atlanta improved and got relatively close to them.
While the visitors proved to be a dangerous team that shouldn’t be taken lightly at any moment, Brown, Tatum & co. are expected to score another win for the home side and establish a 2-0 lead in the series over the Hawks.
Prediction: Hawks 109-120 Celtics