Just when it looked like the Hawks’ season was on ice, Trae Young came through with one of the best efforts of his NBA postseason career to stave off elimination and force at least one more game in this highly entertaining first-round matchup.
Oddsmakers don’t have much faith in another miracle for Atlanta, instead pricing the Celtics as massive favorites to win on the road and close out this series once and for all.
Here’s how we’re betting Thursday’s contest, which tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
Hawks vs. Celtics odds
(via BetMGM)
- Celtics -6.5 (-115), moneyline -300
- Hawks +6.5 (-105), moneyline +240
- O/U 230.5 (-110)
Hawks vs. Celtics prediction and analysis
(8:30 p.m. ET on TNT)
If we’ve learned anything through the first five games of this series, it’s that neither of these teams can get a stop when they need it most.
And I don’t see that suddenly changing on Thursday.
Heading into Game 5, the Celtics’ defense had one clear goal: don’t get beat by Young and the Hawks’ array of 3-point shooters.
Sure enough, the diminutive guard exploded for 38 points and 13 assists, including a filthy step-back three in the final seconds to cap off a furious fourth-quarter rally.
That was one of 19 made 3-pointers for Atlanta, which has buried at least 14 triples in each of the last four games in this series – shooting a combined 40% from deep across that four-game stretch.
That stellar shooting display has helped bolster the team’s 117.0 offensive rating over the last nine days, tied for the fifth-best of any team in the postseason in that period.
The Celtics’ offense has been even more efficient over that same stretch (118.8) behind the star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who have been simply too much for the Hawks’ defense to handle in this series.
Brown was the catalyst for Boston’s offense in Game 5, scoring 35 points on a sizzling 65.2% shooting to keep his team afloat in Tuesday’s barn-burner.
That came after a rousing effort in Game 4, when he and Tatum both went off for 31 points in a 129-121 win that saw both teams combine for 71 points in the fourth quarter.
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Clearly, neither of these defenses have been up to the task to this point.
The Celtics are struggling mightily to close out on Atlanta’s bevy of shooters, Young chief among them, and the Hawks have been virtually powerless to the dribble drive and subsequent kick-outs that have made Boston’s offense so dangerous in recent years.
It should come as no surprise that each of the last three games in this matchup have gone over, and even Thursday’s gaudy total – which is actually the second-lowest in this series so far – isn’t high enough to account for the high-level offense we’ve seen on both ends.
Hawks vs. Celtics pick
- Over 230.5 (-110 BetMGM)