The Atlanta Hawks (60-22) will be at home when they play the Cleveland Cavaliers (53-29) in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The game gets underway at 8:30 pm ET on Friday, May 22 and will air on TNT.
The Hawks won a close one over the Wizards 94-91 the last time they played. DeMarre Carroll played a key role, recording 25 points and 10 rebounds to notch his third double-double this season. Tristan Thompson played well, recording 13 points and 17 rebounds to claim his 14th double-double of the season.
The odds are even for this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is presently unavailable. The Hawks enter the game with records of 60-22 Straight Up (SU) and 49-32-1 Against The Spread (ATS). They have gone 38-14 SU and 30-21-1 ATS against teams from the Eastern Conference. The Hawks are a dangerously accurate shooting team with a .466 field-goal percentage, one of the highest marks in the NBA. Spreading the ball around is a huge part of Atlanta’s offense. They are second in the league in assists with an average of 25.7 per game. Something to watch out for is if Atlanta can force its opponents into turnovers and convert them into baskets. They’ve done an excellent job of that all year with an average of 18.2 points off turnovers per game.
Across the court, Cleveland has a SU record of 53-29 and an ATS record of 40-42. While Cleveland has gone 3-7 ATS over its past 10 matchups, they’ve excelled SU with a record of 7-3. Cleveland is one of the top three-point shooting teams in the league, knocking down 10.1 shots from three-point range per game.
Following the Hawks’ latest win over Cleveland, their SU record rises to 8-2 over the Cavaliers in the last 10 meetings. At 5-5, they are even bets ATS. Atlanta has held the edge in three key areas (field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers) four times over the last 10, while Cleveland accomplished this once.
Predictions: SU Winner – CLE, ATS Winner – CLE
Notes
Atlanta 4-1-1 SU in its last 6 games.
Atlanta 20-4-1 SU in its last 25 games at home.
Atlanta 15-3-1 SU in its last 19 games when playing Cleveland.
Atlanta 5-0-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Cleveland.
Cleveland’s offense and Atlanta’s defense are well matched, ranking zeroth in points per game and points allowed per game respectively. Cleveland puts up an average of 0.0 points per game, while Atlanta gives up 0.0 points per game.
Cleveland and Atlanta are well matched, ranking zeroth in points per away game and points allowed at home respectively. Cleveland scores an average of 0.0 points on the road, while Atlanta gives up 0.0 points at home on average.
When allowing fewer than 100 points, the Hawks are 44-5 on the season. When the Cavaliers score fewer than 100, they are a losing 11-24.
When the Atlanta Hawks allow at least 100 points they are 16-17, while the Cleveland Cavaliers are 42-5 when they register triple digits.
The Cavaliers have a defensive rating of 103.4 (ranked 17th). The Hawks rank sixth for their offensive rating of 106.3.
The Atlanta Hawks average 96.5 possessions per game and 1.063 points per possession, while the Cleveland Cavaliers earn fewer possessions (95.4) but more points per possession (1.081).
The Cleveland Cavaliers have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking fourth in the league with an EFF% of 52.0%. When their opponents record a similar or higher EFF%, the Atlanta Hawks have a losing 9-14 record.
Atlanta ranks near the top of the league in assists at second (25.7 assists per game). Cleveland is ranked 10th, with 22.1 assists per game.
The Atlanta Hawks average 4.6 blocks per game for a rank of 15th. The Cleveland Cavaliers rank lower (25th), earning 4.1 blocks each game.
The Atlanta Hawks rank 30th in offensive rebounding, while the Cleveland Cavaliers rank 21st in defensive rebounding.
The Atlanta Hawks earn an average of 9.1 steals per game and are ranked fifth. The Cleveland Cavaliers have a 16-17 record when they allow at least 9 steals.
