The Atlanta Hawks (9-5) will have their chance to beat the Eastern Conference’s best team when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers (9-3) at the Quicken Loans Arena. The game gets underway at 7:30 pm ET on Saturday, Nov. 21 and will air on FxS and FxO.
The Cavaliers were victorious over the Bucks 115-100 on Thursday. LeBron James was the team’s high scorer with 27 points on 9-for-13 shooting. The Hawks, meanwhile, are coming off a 103-97 win over the Kings on Wednesday. Paul Millsap played well, posting 23 points and 16 rebounds to claim his sixth double-double of the season.
Second-chance opportunities are projected to be few and far between for the Hawks in this contest. They rank 27th in the NBA in offensive rebounding (offensive rebound percentage of 19.5%), while Cleveland is fifth-best in the league on the defensive backboards (defensive rebound percentage of 78.8%).
The Cavaliers, a six-point favorite, will look to capitalize at home against Atlanta. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is presently unavailable. Even with a positive Straight Up (SU) record of 9-3, the Cavaliers are 4-8 Against The Spread (ATS) in those games. Even though they haven’t performed all that well ATS within the Eastern Conference (3-7), they have a record of 7-3. Cleveland has consistently been near the top of the league in terms of field goal percentage, currently ranking fifth in the league with a FG% of .464. Cleveland has the fifth-most assists in the NBA, averaging 24.2 per game.
Across the court, the Hawks head into the game with records of 6-7-1 ATS and 9-5 SU. In Eastern Conference games, Atlanta has gone 6-3 SU and 4-4-1 ATS. Atlanta is one of the top foul-shooting teams in the league, hitting .797 of their shots from the line. When it comes to making good decisions with the ball, not many are better than the Hawks. They have one of the top assist-to-turnover ratios in the league at 1.79. Atlanta makes opponents pay for turning the ball over, leading the league in points off turnovers with an average of 21.5 per game.
The Cavaliers and the Hawks will be facing off in their first head-to-head clash of the season. When they last met the Cavaliers were winners, taking the head-to-head record to an even 5-5 SU over the past 10 meetings. However, with a 6-4 record, the Cavaliers have the advantage ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – Cle, ATS Winner – Atl
Notes
Cleveland is 1-8 ATS in its last 9 games.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Cleveland’s last 7 games.
Cleveland is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games.
Cleveland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home.
Cleveland is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland’s last 5 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Cleveland’s last 11 games when playing Atlanta.
Cleveland is 7-15 SU in its last 22 games when playing Atlanta.
Cleveland is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Atlanta.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Cleveland’s last 5 games when playing at home against Atlanta.
Cleveland is 17-8 SU in its last 25 games when playing at home against Atlanta.
Cleveland is 4-8 ATS in its last 12 games when playing at home against Atlanta.
Cleveland puts up an average of 103.5 points per game (ranked eighth). Atlanta ranks 11th in points allowed per game with 99.4.
On average, Cleveland scores 106.7 points per home game (ranked sixth). Atlanta ranks 10th in points allowed per road game with 99.3.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have a winning record (5-1) when their opponents score fewer than 100 points this season. The Atlanta Hawks are 3-4 when they don’t hit triple digits.
The Cavaliers have a 4-2 record when they allow at least 100 points. The Hawks have also performed well when they reach the century mark with a record of 6-1 in such games.
The Cavaliers have the third-best offensive rating in the NBA (106.4). The Hawks are also in the top half of the league based on their defensive rating of 100.8 (ranked 15th).
Cleveland averages fewer possessions per game than Atlanta, with 97.3 compared to 97.8. However, the Cavaliers score an average of 1.064 points per possession, more than the 1.040 that the Hawks score.
Atlanta has an average effective field goal percentage of 52.1%, ranked third in the NBA. Cleveland is undefeated (3-0) when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
Atlanta ranks near the top of the league in assists at second (26.1 assists per game). Cleveland is ranked fifth, with 24.2 assists per game.
Cleveland makes an average of 3.9 blocks per game (ranked 26th). Atlanta ranks higher in blocks with 5.1 (ranked 15th).
Cleveland is ranked 14th in offensive rebounding. Atlanta ranks 24th in defensive rebounds.
Making 9.7 steals per game, Atlanta is ranked second in the NBA. Cleveland has a winning 2-1 record when it allows at least 9 steals.
