Atlanta Hawks vs. Boston Celtics (6pm ET)
The Hawks and Celtics both enter Monday’s matchup in Las Vegas at 2-0 in Summer League, but the schedule might favor a certain side in this one. Atlanta has convincing wins over the Spurs and Nets on Thursday and Saturday, and continue to get a day off prior to each game.
The Celtics got an impressive win over a talented roster in the Hornets on Sunday, but now turnaround to play again on Monday. Boston has a pretty deep squad in Vegas, but seems likely to rest some key players on the second leg of this back-to-back. Hugo Gonzalez (a first round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft) and/or Amari Williams (a second round pick from the same class) are potential candidates to sit this one out.
Part of the recipe to success for betting Summer League is not to leave yourself guessing, but betting off the news and rosters once they become available. While I’m speculating exactly who will rest, I feel confident enough that the Celtics will be sitting some form of key pieces to make this bet on the Atlanta side.
The other side of the equation here is that we get to back a good roster in the Hawks, regardless of the Celtics’ side. Atlanta rosters two first round picks from last month’s NBA Draft in Kingston Flemings (No. 8 overall) and Zuby Ejiofor (No. 23 overall), both of whom are playing very well in Vegas. Asa Newell, a first round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft is also on the roster, and brings good NBA experience.
Atlanta’s roster is rounded out by a handful of stars at the college level that’ve been making an impact in these games. In Saturday’s win over a Brooklyn roster flooded with recent draft picks, the Hawks played 10 players 14 or more minutes, showing their depth. I’ll back Atlanta’s depth and rest advantage over a good Celtics’ lineup that I highly anticipate will not be full when we see the starting lineup.
NBA Summer League Pick: Hawks -4.5 (-110)
