The Boston Celtics are in Georgia this weekend visiting the Atlanta Hawks in one of Saturday night’s 7:30 p.m. ET start times. If the playoffs started today, this could be a first-round matchup since the Celtics would be the No. 2 seed and the Hawks would be the No. 9 seed and in the Play-In Tournament. Let’s take a look at some of the top player prop bets available in this matchup on Saturday night.
Overall in the bigger picture, the Hawks are 3.5-point home underdogs on DraftKings Sportsbook with the point total set at 229.5.
The Celtics just moved ahead of the Knicks for the top spot in the Atlantic Division and are 25-15 in the second spot in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics beat the Heat by five points on Thursday, bounce back after losing three of four. They’ll look to make it two road wins in a row, but they’ll be without Payton Pritchard (ankle), who was ruled out Saturday afternoon.
On the other side, the Hawks list Dyson Daniels (ankle) as questionable, while Zaccharie Risacher (knee) and Kristaps Porzingis (Achilles) remain sidelined. Atlanta has dropped two straight but still went 2-2 on its four-game road trip at 5-4 in its last nine games dating back to New Year’s Eve.
Let’s break down this Eastern Conference matchup on Saturday night, highlighting my top player prop bets to consider
Celtics vs. Hawks Best Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Derrick White under 20.5 points (-111)
This will be the first game this season that Pritchard has missed, so it’s hard to know exactly how the team will adjust responsibilities. While his usage does typically go up with Pritchard off the floor, White’s scoring has been down lately. Since Pritchard is the team’s primary point guard when available, White could fill in more as the top creator with another shooter like Anfernee Simons moving into the starting five.
Even if the team goes with a more defense-first starting five, Simons will likely get more work off the bench after his recent scoring success.
White is averaging 18.4 points per game on the season, but he has come in under this prop line in seven of his last 10 games and in nine of his last 13. Jaylen Brown missed time in that stretch, but White’s scoring still didn’t explode even in that situation. The only time he had over 20 points in his last six games was in a revenge game against his former team the Spurs, which the C’s lost last Saturday.
With Jaylen Brown and Anfernee Simons both scoring with ease right now and the Hawks typically more vulnerable against forwards than guards, I think White will likely go over some of his props, but I like the under on his points prop in this contest.
CJ McCollum 25+ Points + Assists + Rebounds (-104)
The availability of Daniels will make a huge impact on the Hawks’ rotation, but one player who could help pick up some of the slack is the recently-acquired CJ McCollum.
McCollum has played three games with the Hawks, and so far, he has been working off the bench. If Daniels is out, he could move into the starting five, but whether he does or not, I like his potential to go over this PRA (points, rebounds, assists) total.
In his Hawks debut, McCollum had 12 points and four assists for 16 PRA in 24 minutes. That was the one of the two games in his last 10 outings in which he has come in under this prop line. He has produced at least 25 PRA in 70% of his last 20 games dating back to Dec. 1. He’s averaging 25.8 PRA on the season, although most of that production was during his time with the Wizards in a different situation.
McCollum had 29 and 27 PRA in his last two games with the Hawks, and he could get more work and responsibility if Daniels is out on Saturday. If he moves into the lineup, his scoring could possibly be a little limited, which is why I prefer the safer PRA pick than relying on just his scoring.
Sam Hauser 15+ Points + Rebounds (-113)
Hauser has moved into the starting lineup for Boston over his last six games and is playing an average of 27.7 minutes per game over that span, producing 11.2 points and 3.7 rebounds.
His season averages are lower since his role has fluctuated so much as the Celtics tinkered with their rotation, but he is getting enough time to be a reliable contributor at this point. With some more shots available since Pritchard is out, he could get some extra usage Saturday night as well.
He has gone over this prop line in each of his last three games, with over 15+ points in two of those three games and eight boards to go with eight points in his other contest. The Hawks have also been a great matchup for opposing forwards, and Hauser should be able to get over this prop line once again on Saturday.
Bonus Parlay Pick: Jalen Johnson under 1.5 3PM (-120)
Johnson has had an incredibly impressive season and has been a breakout star who’s a lot of fun to watch. However, he hasn’t typically been shooting many threes lately, so I like him to come in under this prop line, especially if McCollum gets more run and more shots from the outside. Johnson has come in under this prop line in 12 of his last 17 contests and is just 2-for-14 (14%) from long range over his last three contests combined. The Celtics give up the third-fewest fantasy points to power forwards, and they should be able to work to hold Johnson in check from long range Saturday night.
If you’re looking to use these props to create a Same Game Parlay (SGP) or as part of an SPGx, adding in the under on Johnson’s 3PM takes the SGP to a solid +900, as you can see below.
