Tip-off: Friday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: Atlanta -2.5, Total: 212.5

The Hawks will be going for their eighth straight win when they host the Celtics on Friday night.

The Celtics are playing well right now, as they come into this game after having won 11 of their past 14 games. They most recently took on the Wizards on Wednesday, and they came away with a 117-108 victory as 5.5-point home favorites. Still, the Celtics are not going to be the hottest team when they take the floor on Friday. That would be the Hawks, who have won eight straight games coming into this one. Not only has Atlanta been winning games, but the team has covered in six straight as well. The Hawks are playing extremely well on the defensive end, as they have forced their opponents to shoot less than 45% from the floor in six of their past seven contests. Boston is a remarkable 23-5 as a favorite this season, but the team is 1-10 (3-6-2 ATS) as an underdog. That doesn’t bode well heading into this game, but the Celtics are facing a Hawks team that is only 9-7 (7-9 ATS) as a home favorite on the year. Boston is not currently healthy, but will be hoping to get some bodies back in this one. One of those would be SG Avery Bradley (Achilles), who will miss this game for the Celtics. That is a big absence for Boston, as Bradley is one of the best three-and-D guys in the league right now.

The Celtics are playing some good basketball at the moment, and PG Isaiah Thomas (28.2 PPG, 6.1 APG) has emerged as a likely All-NBA player in his sixth season in the league. Thomas is shooting a career high 45.6% from the floor this season, and he is doing so on 19.2 shot attempts per game. Thomas is also excellent from downtown, shooting 37.8% on 7.4 attempts per game. If Boston is going to win this one then it means that Thomas will have played a very good game on both ends of the floor. He can’t afford to let Dennis Schroder go off or the Celtics will be in trouble. C Al Horford (15.3 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.9 BPG) will be even more important on both ends of the floor, though. Horford is going to be matched up with Dwight Howard in this game, and Horford must hold his own on the boards. He also needs to do his best to avoid foul trouble. Offensively, his ability to shoot will be key though. Horford can pull Howard away from the rim, and that will open things up for the rest of Boston’s players to get to the rim.

The Hawks are rolling right now, and that is rather impressive when considering they traded away Kyle Korver last week. Atlanta has, however, been winning games on the defensive end, as the team is fifth in the league in defensive efficiency (104.7 points per 100 possessions). Korver was not one of the better defenders on the team, so perhaps this team is better off with him no longer taking minutes from guys who get after it on that end. C Dwight Howard (14.0 PPG, 13.4 RPG, 1.3 BPG) is one of the main reasons that Atlanta is now a force on the defensive end. Howard is still one of the best rim protectors in basketball, and he will need to be ready to go on Friday. Al Horford is going to want to play well against his former team, but Howard needs to do his best to keep him in line. PF Paul Millsap (17.6 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.6 SPG) will also be motivated in this one. He’ll certainly want to outplay his former teammate, and that isn’t out of the cards. Millsap is averaging 19.2 PPG and 9.2 RPG over the past five games, and he continues to play excellent defense at the power forward spot. When he gets it going from midrange, he’s nearly impossible to guard. Millsap will hope to do just that on Friday. PG Dennis Schroder (17.8 PPG, 6.3 APG) might be the x-factor for the Hawks, though. Schroder is averaging 19.2 PPG and 6.8 APG over the past five contests, but he’ll need to play well on Friday. If he doesn’t bring it on both ends then Isaiah Thomas will definitely lead Boston to a big road win.