Perfect March Madness Bracket Through boston Celtics $87 Million Key Player First Day At Fenway Park Stadium….

Greetings, basketball fans. Welcome back to our NBA coverage here at Latest Basketball News. One of the games on tap from tonight’s slate features the Boston Celtics (57-14 SU, 38-30-3 ATS) taking on the Atlanta Hawks (31-39 SU, 24-46 ATS).

In a battle between two teams at opposite ends of the conference playoff race, here is a look at which squad has the edge going into this matchup and why.

The Boston Celtics own the best record in the association. They need just one victory or a loss by the second-place Milwaukee Bucks to clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

On top of that, they stroll into this matchup riding a nine-game winning streak. This includes a 124-113 win against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.

In that contest, four starters reached double figures, spearheaded by Jayson Tatum’s 26-point, six-assist performance.

Sam Hauser and Al Horford contributed 23 points each, while Derrick White finished with 17 points, six assists, and three rebounds.

Regardless of who has been in and out of the lineup, the Celtics keep finding ways to win games. Tatum and Horford missed the team’s 129-102 win over the Pistons, and Jaylen Brown sat out the game against Chicago.

“Different people, different guys, are ready to step up when their number’s called,” said Horford via CBS Sports. “We all understand what we’re trying to do, how we’re trying to play. Guys are just staying ready and taking advantage of the opportunities.”

The two-game set against the Hawks will mark the third and fourth games of Boston’s six-game road trip. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, look for the Celtics to cruise to another victory against a Hawks team that has its share of injuries.  Jalen JTrae Young,ohnson, and Saddiq Bell missed Saturday’s game. Even more important, there is no definitive timetable as to when Young will return to the lineup.

On the other side of this matchup, the Atlanta Hawks are currently locked into the final play-in spot. However, they trail the ninth-seeded Chicago Bulls by just 2.5 games. Given the inconsistency Chicago has played with this season, overtaking that team for the ninth spot is quite feasible.

Over their last 10 contests, the Hawks have gone 5-5. On a positive note, they recently snapped their two-game skid with a much-needed 132-91 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night.

Dejounte Murray set the tone for the offense with a team-high 28 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the floor and an impressive 7-for-9 effort from beyond the arc. Murray also tallied 12 assists, seven rebounds, and four steals

Both Bruno Fernando and Garrison Matthews came off the bench and provided Atlanta with 25 and 20 points, respectively. Atlanta placed six players in double figures en route to shooting 55.6 percent from the floor and they connected on 20 of their 42 attempts from 3-point range (47.6 percent).

And despite having the third-worst defense in the league, Atlanta held Charlotte to 41.7 shooting overall and 28.2 percent shooting from distance. Unfortunately, it is doubtful that the Hawks can keep pace with a Celtics team that is clicking on all cylinders.

Now that we have set the table for this matchup, let’s look at the betting trends for both sides.

Based on the above trends, and combined with the fact that the Celtics are 11-6 against the spread this season when favored by 12 or more points, I am leaning toward the road team covering the large spread in this scenario.

On the heels of his 26-point performance against the Bulls, Jayson Tatum is the key player to watch for the league’s top team. He currently has -115 odds of scoring more than 26.5 points and -115 odds of finishing with less than 26.5 points.

All the above trends indicate that going with the under would be the smart choice. However, because the Hawks are missing several key players, this will create additional scoring opportunities for Murray. So, based on the fact, and his recent 10-game stretch, I am going in the other direction and picking the “over” for Murray.

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Celtics Reserve Luke Kornet Reveals Simple Secret to Recent Success

Before this season, who knew the impact Luke Kornet would have with the Boston Celtics? The Celtics beefed up their frontcourt with the addition of Kristaps Porzingis, pairing him with veteran center Al Horford.

Kornet, in his fourth season with the Celtics, was expected to be found way at the end of the bench this season on a star-studded Boston team. Instead, he’s proven to be one of the most valuable reserves. After a game against the Chicago Bulls in which he pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds, Kornet spoke about the main ingredient that has been key to his success this season — effort.

After adding Porzingis and Jrue Holiday this offseason, the Celtics arguably have the best starting five in the NBA. Boston owns the best record in the league at 57-14.

The biggest question mark for the Celtics coming into this season was depth. Horford was the only proven commodity coming off the bench. Kornet, Sam Hauser, and Payton Pritchard had seen some minutes in previous seasons, but none were expected to make a significant impact.

That’s all changed. All three have been key contributors to Boston’s success, but Kornet is the one who has been the biggest surprise this year.

A year ago, the 7-foot-2 center from Vanderbilt, averaged 11.7 minutes per game, many of them coming in garbage time. He never started a game in the 69 games he played last year.

With the Celtics being overly cautious with the oft-injured Porzingis, Kornet has made five starts this year and is playing 15.6 minutes. He’s playing valuable minutes and said effort has been the key to his success.

“You know, effort is about 80 percent of the battle,” Kornet told Abby Chin of NBC Sports Boston after the win over the Bulls. “I was just doing it, trying hard. Yeah, kids, just try hard.

“That’s most of the battle. Being tall helps. Sometimes, the ball comes to you. Other times, you try really hard, and it doesn’t come to you.”

The Celtics played the Bulls without three starters. Hauser, Horford, and Kornet all stepped into the starting lineup as Porzingis, Holiday, and Jaylen Brown all sat for various reasons. Horford and Hauser each finished with 23 points and combined for 12 3-pointers. Kornet added eight points to go along with his huge rebounding night in 31 minutes of work.