The Boston Celtics will look to continue their season-long dominance over the Atlanta Hawks when they meet in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff matchup on Saturday in Boston. The Hawks (41-41), who earned the seventh seed in the playoffs by defeating Miami in the play-in tournament, are 17-24 on the road this season. The Celtics (57-25), the second seed and Atlantic Division champion, have won the last five meetings with Atlanta, including all three this year. Boston finished the regular season 34-18 against Eastern Conference foes, while the Hawks were 26-26.

The game will tip off at 3:30 p.m. ET from TD Garden. Boston is a 10-point favorite at Caesars Sportsbook, while the over/under is set at 231 (see up-to-date odds for every game this week on our NBA odds4page). 

Before making any Hawks vs. Celtics picks, you NEED to check out the NBA predictions from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past four-plus seasons. The model enters the 2023 NBA Play-in Tournament a stunning 71-36 on all top-rated NBA picks this season, returning more than $3,000. Anyone following it has seen HUGE returns!

The model knows small forward Jayson Tatum has been dominant, scoring 31 points per game over the past 10. For the season, he averages 30.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He has been dominant in two regular season games against the Hawks, averaging a double-double. He is averaging 26.5 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and one block vs. Atlanta. Tatum scored 40 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a 140-99 win at Milwaukee on March 30, and followed that up with 39 points and 11 boards in a 122-114 victory over Utah on March 31.

The model also knows Atlanta point guard Trae Young has been red hot, registering double-doubles in each of the last three games, and in five of six. He has 40 on the season, and 168 in his career. Young became the first player in franchise history to record 25 points and 20 assists in a single game on April 7. In that contest, a 136-131 overtime loss to Philadelphia, he also recorded four steals to become just the seventh player in NBA history to record at least 25 points, 20 assists and four steals. He joined John Stockton, who did it twice, Kevin Porter, Phil Ford, Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson and Kevin Johnson in the accomplishment.

Now, it has set its sights on Hawks vs. Celtics. We can tell you the model is leaning Under on the point total, and it also says one side of the spread hits in well over 50% of simulations! You ABSOLUTELY need to see it before locking in any NBA picks.

So who wins Hawks vs. Celtics? And which side of the spread hits well over 50% of the time? Join SportsLine now to find out, all from the model that has crushed its top-rated NBA picks against the spread!