Hawks vs. Celtics Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for November 16 (Don't Expect Fireworks)

Hawks vs. Celtics Game Info

• Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2022
• Time: 7:30 PM ET
• Venue: State Farm Arena -- Atlanta, Georgia
• Coverage: ESPN, NBCS-BOS, and BSSE

Wednesday's NBA slate brings an exciting matchup between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks, who currently sit as the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds in the Eastern Conference.

The winners of a conference-best seven straight, Boston looked almost mortal in their last outing, only beating the lowly Oklahoma City Thunder by four points. The Hawks, on the other hand, just put up a massive 121-106 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Hawks vs. Celtics Odds & Spread

• All NBA betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: BOS: (-154) | ATL: (+130)
• Spread: BOS: -3 (-108) | ATL: +3 (-112)
• Total: 235.5 -- Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)

It's no surprise here — the top seed in the East comes in favored, even on the road. The 3-point spread implies a very close matchup, however, and that over/under of 235.5 points is the highest on Wednesday's 10-game slate.

Hawks vs. Celtics Betting Trends

• The Celtics won 43 games against the spread last season, while failing to cover or pushing 39 times.
• The Hawks had an ATS record of 8-17 as underdogs of 2 points or greater last season.
• Last season, the combined scoring went over the point total 41 times in Celtics games.
• Last season, 43 of the Hawks' 82 games went over the point total.

Hawks vs. Celtics Prediction & Pick

The Hawks have a couple of massive wins lately, but I'm not ready to buy them as a dangerous threat to the Celtics just yet. Their +0.7 net rating is good for just No. 15 in the NBA, while the Celtics sit eighth at +3.8. That means the Celtics have been about 3.1 points per 100 possessions better than the Hawks so far.

The addition of Dejounte Murray has been a major one for Atlanta, but he hasn't done anything to help with their issues that show through in their defensive rating (16th) and rebound rate (23rd). The Celtics are tied for the NBA's highest offensive rating (117.5), and I expect them to score at will tonight.

Prediction: Celtics 116| Hawks 111

Hawks vs. Celtics Best Bet

Both these teams thrive on offense and have struggled on the defensive end — which usually has the potential to create an incredibly high-scoring game.

Boston has really worked to keep the pace low in their games, however, ranking just 21st in the NBA as one of only 10 teams with a pace below 99.0. The Hawks like to push the pace (8th in the NBA), but that becomes a lot harder to do when you're not getting defensive stops, as you don't get the rebounds needed to get running in transition.

Against a slow-paced, hyper-efficient offense the Hawks will be forced into a slower game than they'd like.

Bet: Under 235.5 points (-110)

Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.