Celtics vs Hawks Picks and Predictions: Celts' Scoring Woes Continue

Two teams with playoff ambitions, that haven't exactly had the starts they hoped for this season, face off tonight night when the Boston Celtics visit the Atlanta Hawks. 

Both teams have been mired in inconsistency, putting forth an inspiring effort one night... then barfing up on the court the next. The Celtics are ninth in the East at 7-7, yet are still NBA betting underdogs tonight against the Hawks, who sit a depressing 12th at 6-9.

One of these teams is about the feel the negative sting of another disappointing outcome — find out who's the safer bet with our Celtics vs. Hawks picks and predictions for Wednesday, November 17.

Celtics vs Hawks odds

Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.

This spread opened at Atlanta -4 and has grown to -4.5 at some books at the time of writing. The total was set at 214 and has been bet up to 214.5 and even 215 depending on where you shop. Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until tip-off and be sure to check out the full NBA odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.

Celtics vs Hawks predictions

• Prediction: Hawks -4 (-110)
• Prediction: Under 214.5 (-110)
• Best bet: Young Over 24.5 points (-110)

Predictions made on 11/17/2021 at 9:15 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.

Celtics vs Hawks game info

• Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Date: Wednesday, November 17, 2021
• Tip-off: 7:30 p.m. ET
• TV: Bally Sports SE-ATL, NBCSB

Celtics vs Hawks betting preview

Injuries

Celtics: Jaylen Brown G/F (Out), Robert Williams III C (Questionable).
Hawks: Kevin Hurter SG (Questionable), De'Andrew Hunter SF (Out), Onyeka Okongwu PF (Out).
Find our latest NBA injury reports.

Betting trend to know

Hawks are 23-4 ATS in their last 27 games as a home favorite. Find more NBA betting trends for Celtics vs. Hawks.

Celtics vs Hawks picks and predictions

Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.

Spread analysis

Having to trust one of these teams isn't the most reassuring feeling. They've both been wildly inconsistent on the season, and each team has distinct advantages in this matchup.

Early-season malaise has afflicted both rosters, with Boston's stars being publicly put on blast by their starting PG, and Trae Young – who, for the record, has won all of two playoff series in his career – openly claiming that the early regular season is "boring."

Currently outside of the play-in picture, Young won't have to worry about the postseason at this rate. Atlanta has been abysmal on defense (ranked 27th in NBA) and is in the league's bottom third in effective field-goal percentage. The Hawks have won their past two games... but those were against the Magic and injury-depleted Bucks. Prior to that, they'd dropped six straight in a nightmare schedule stretch that saw them play the Nets, Jazz (twice), Suns, Warriors, and Nuggets.

It's been tough to gauge how much of the Hawks' troubles are inherently basketball-related. They came into this season facing a ton of expectation for what's still a fairly young team, with the roster's pecking order and overall sense of involvement very nebulous beneath Young. For what it's worth, they've also faced the NBA's second-toughest schedule so far, per ESPN. 

Boston has shown flashes of a cohesive team attack, punctuated by All-World defense. But it's also had stretches where it can't score when needed —Jayson Tatum, in the absence of fellow All-Star Jaylen Brown, is averaging just 21.1 points per game in November, shooting a fairly bad 36.4 percent from the floor. If Tatum has an off night, Boston's relative lack of scoring depth immediately puts its chances on ice. 

Atlanta is much better equipped to handle its absences — especially on the wing, where De'Andre Hunter and possibly Kevin Huerter are out tonight. Having Hunter to cover Tatum would be handy, but overall, Atlanta is the NBA's deepest team — bar none — and can easily slide Cam Reddish into more minutes.

ATL's got serious issues to figure out on defense, but the Celts have the NBA's 24th-ranked offense, are down their top scorer, and have their other star mired in a shooting slump. We're not banking on them to punish Atlanta too harshly. 

Prediction: Hawks -4 (-110)

Over/Under analysis

This total feels low at first glance. Maybe the books are starting to over-adjust with NBA Unders hitting at a more-than 60 percent clip this season.  

Atlanta's 8-2-1 against this total in its last 11 games, despite the bulk of those games coming against squads that are either slow-paced, defense-first, or both. Boston profiles as such a team, with four of its past seven games having fallen short of the 200-point plateau. 

The Hawks' defense is currently at its floor, even with Young's matador-like resistance at the point of attack. This isn't a dynamite defense, but it's not one of the NBA's worst on paper. And the Celtics are struggling so much to score right now that we just don't see them pushing the total too far.

We're looking at two of the NBA's more deliberate teams tonight: Beantown ranks 20th in the NBA in pace, while the ATL is 23rd. This matchup could easily become a grind, with the Celts doing their best to contain Atlanta while having to go deep into the clock on the other end. 

The total might feel low, but with Boston averaging just 98.57 ppg over its past seven games, it's tough to trust this Over too much — low total and all. 

Prediction: Under 214.5 (-110)

Best bet

Young was definitely one of the players most afflicted by the NBA's new shooting-foul rules at the beginning of the season. His free-throw attempts are down from 8.7 per game last year to just 5.3 this season.

But he's adjusting. 

After scoring fewer than 20 points in three of his six October games, Young has cleared that barrier in all nine of the Hawks' November contests. He's topped tonight's total of 24.5 in five of his past six games, the lone exception being a win over the basement-dwelling Magic in which he played a season-low 30 minutes. Young's averaged 30.16 ppg during this stretch, and seems to be getting back into his groove offensively, but we're still getting what seems like a low (and un-juiced) market here after his early-season inconsistency. 

This number could also be low because of the matchup with Marcus Smart, but Young has cleared 24.5 with enough consistency and breathing room this month that we're confident he can do it again with one, and possibly two of Atlanta's many mouths to feed on offense sidelined.

Pick: Trae Young Over 24.5 points (-110)

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