Hawks vs Celtics: Game Preview, Injury Report, Betting Odds, Projected Starting Lineups For Today's Game

After one of their grittiest wins of the season where they beat the Chicago Bulls in a 110-94 beatdown without Trae Young, Jalen Johnson, DeAndre Hunter or Zaccharie Risacher. Atlanta's depth has been tested all season and they've been very reliant on their stars to carry them on offense, but they showed progress in that area against Chicago.

It's hard to overstate how impressive of a win this was for Atlanta. The Hawks have struggled against the Bulls and two of their best shooters in Garrison Matthews and Bogdan Bogdanovic went 1-15 from three tonight. Fortunately, Keaton Wallace and Daeqwon Plowden had other ideas. In his first NBA game ever, Plowden finished with 19 points on 7-8 shooting from the field and 5-6 from three, as well as four rebounds. He came off the bench to give the Hawks a huge boost. Wallace also had a career night. He finished with 27 points, six assists, six rebounds, and four steals. He ran the offense well and found guys for open shots all night long, as well as playing good defense on Coby White.

Things should be a little better against Boston. Hunter and Young are expected to return to play while Johnson was upgraded from out to questionable. However, this is still going to be a difficult game to take. Boston's still one of the best three teams in basketball and seem poised for another deep run through the Eastern Conference. They are subject to concerning defensive breakdowns and struggle with shooting consistency, but they cannot be taken lightly.

Game Preview

Coming into tonight's game, the Hawks are 6th in the NBA in PPG, 16th in FG%, 15th in 3PA, 19th in 3P%, 3rd in FTA, 22nd in turnovers, and 6th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 14th in points per 100 possessions, 19th in effective field goal percentage, 19th in turnover percentage, 9th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 8th in free throw rate.

Currently, the Hawks rank 28th in PPG allowed, 25th in field goal percentage allowed, 29th in three-point attempts allowed, and 30th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 21st in points allowed per 100 possessions and 28th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Boston takes a lot of threes without making many mistakes. The Celtics are 5th in PPG, 18th in FG%, 1st in three point attempts, 15th in 3P%, 21st in free throw attempts, 9th in rebounding, and 1st in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Boston is 3rd in points per 100 possessions, 7th in effective field goal percentage, 1st in turnover percentage, 16th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 21st in free throw rate.

If Jalen Johnson can play, he is going to be a critical matchup on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. However, one matchup that is very interesting is the Vit Krejci - Tatum matchup. Krejci played Tatum very well last year and it gives Atlanta an interesting look if they can find success with that again.

DeAndre Hunter returning will be massive for the Hawks' bench. He's struggled with consistency as of late, but he's been one of the best shooters and most consistent offensive options for the Hawks throughout most of the year. However, he should have some help with more consistent minutes from Wallace and Plowden. Both have made compeling cases for larger roles.

One area of this game which should be hotly contested is the rebounding battle. Atlanta has consistently been a very strong rebounding team and it's played a massive role in their victories. It'll be interesting to see if that can continue against a Boston team.

Injury Report

Trae Young (right rib contusion) and De’Andre Hunter (left foot soreness) are both probable while Jalen Johnson (right shoulder inflammation) has been upgraded to questionable. Zaccharie Risacher is out, along with Larry Nance, Kobe Bufkin, and Cody Zeller.

Boston played Orlando last night so keep an eye on their updated injury report this afternoon.

Odds

According to Fanduel Sportsbook, the Celtics are 10.5 point favorites tonight vs Atlanta and the over/under is set at 235.5.

Hawks:

G - Trae Young

G - Dyson Daniels

F - Vit Krejci

F - Jalen Johnson

C - Clint Capela

Celtics:

G - Jrue Holiday

G - Derrick White

F - Jaylen Brown

F - Jayson Tatum

C - Kristaps Porzingis

Game Preview

Injury Report

Odds

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