In front of a national television audience on Opening Night, the Boston Celtics lost arguably their best player for the season with a gruesome injury. At that point, there was justified panic about what Brad Stevens’ team might be this season but, on cue, the team rattled off eight victories in a row and they will put that streak on the line in Atlanta against the Hawks on Monday.

The Hawks broke their own eight-game streak on Sunday with a fun win in Cleveland but that won’t stop detractors from seeing very little chance at success on Monday. Boston enters as nearly double-digit favorites behind the talented due of Kyrie Irving and old friend Al Horford and, more than anything, this is an offense that looks to be capable of taking advantage of Atlanta’s sometimes porous defense.

Hawks fans will have the opportunity to see John Collins face off against Horford and that will be interesting on a number of levels. Still, Atlanta was (very) short-handed on Sunday, playing only eight players in the second half (and Luke Babbitt seeing the court for 42 minutes) and having a back-to-back isn’t ideal. It should be noted that the Celtics also played on Sunday but, simply put, Boston is much deeper than Atlanta when dealing with only available rosters.

Stay tuned throughout the day for all the latest from Philips Arena.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Monday, November 6, 7:30 p.m. ET

Location: Philips Arena

TV: Fox Sports Southeast, Fox Sports Go, NBA League Pass

Radio: 92.9 “The Game”