The Boston Celtics took care of business Monday, claiming a 100-91 victory over the Utah Jazz for their 15th consecutive win. The Celtics’ 15 straight victories top winning streaks of eight, nine (twice) and 10 games during their championship season a year ago, and it’s the longest run since the 1981-82 club set the franchise record with 18 wins in a row.

Those Celtics, led by Larry Bird and Robert Parish, posted a league-best 63-19 record before failing to repeat as NBA champs, instead falling to Dr. J and the 76ers in the Eastern Conference finals. Whether this year’s Celtics match or surpass the franchise mark, they’ll be the favorites to repeat this time around.

If the Celtics fail to set a new franchise record for consecutive wins, they are most likely to fall to Wednesday night’s opponent, the Atlanta Hawks. The 15-9 Hawks, who will host the 23-2 Celtics, have won six of their last nine games. They are 9-1 at home this season, and have an eight-game winning streak at Philips Arena. The most notable home win came on Saturday, when Atlanta halted Cleveland’s 11-game winning streak with a 97-92 victory. The loss dropped the Cavaliers to 20-4 for the season.

Now the Hawks are positioned to stall the winning ways of another NBA powerhouse. If they don’t do it, it may be a while before the Celtics lose. The NBA champs return home after Wednesday’s showdown to face Chicago, New York and Philadelphia -- and there isn’t a winning record in the bunch. The most road wins among the three visitors heading to Boston are four, by both the Sixers (4-7) and Knicks (4-9). Boston victories over the Hawks, Bulls, Knicks and Sixers would set the new franchise mark.

If there is recent history to support the Hawks’ chances of downing the Celtics, it would be their three home wins in the first round of last spring’s playoffs, when Boston needed seven games to send the Hawks home. Those wins don’t count for much on Wednesday, of course, but it’s encouraging that Atlanta’s five starters all have higher points-per-game averages at home than on the road this season.

Three Hawks are averaging at least 15 points per game at Philips Arena -- Joe Johnson (23.5), Mike Bibby (17.3) and Marvin Williams (15.0) -- and it will be up to them to get the job done against Boston on Wednesday night.