NBA Preview: Hawks trying to avenge last Sunday’s loss against Brooklyn to inch closer to clinching a playoff spot.
Atlanta Hawks (39-37) at Brooklyn Nets (17-59), 6 p.m. EST
Line: Hawks -4. Total 214.
Atlanta lost a tough game at Chicago on Saturday to the Bulls, 106-104. The Hawks took a 100-91 lead with 4:54 left in the game before the Bulls finished the contest with a 15-4 run to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Jimmy Butler scored the final 9 points for the Bulls, including nailing two free-throws with 2.1 seconds left to break a tie and lift Chicago to victory.
The Hawks are still in the #6 spot in the Eastern Conference. They are two games ahead of Chicago, Miami and Indiana, who are all tied with 37-39 records. The Bulls leaped from the #9 seed before the game into the #7 seed after their win because they own the tiebreakers with both Miami and Indiana.
The Hawks lost to Brooklyn last Sunday by 15 points at home. Brook Lopez led the Nets with 23 points while Jeremy Lin added 19 points and 8 assists in that game. Dennis Schroder led Atlanta with 24 points but the Hawks shot just 34.7% from the field during that embarrassing loss to the worst team in the league.
Despite the discrepancy in their season records, the Nets are 5-5 in their last 10 games while Atlanta is just 2-8 in their last 10. Atlanta is 10-5 ATS (Against The Spread) and 10-5 to the under in the back-end of back-to-backs this season. Brooklyn is 6-6-1 ATS and 8-5 to the over in back-enders this season, although one of those overs was aided by overtime.
This game qualifies as a quick-revenge spot for Atlanta since they lost to Brooklyn one week ago. This situational spot is a fairly strong one in the NBA. Paul Millsap is listed as questionable for the Hawks for Sunday’s game, although there is an outside chance he could return to play. The Hawks are just 2-6 without Millsap their last 8 games. I also expect the Vegas line to go up slightly if Millsap is able to play.
There is also a strong chart-play for the over in this game. Atlanta had gone under the Vegas total 8 consecutive games before going over yesterday against Chicago. A chart-play dictates that as soon as an over, under, cover or not-cover streak of 4 or more ends, you then reverse course and select against the streak that was just snapped.
My record (5-5, -$84). My picks:
Atlanta Hawks -4, laying $110 to win $100 (1 unit, normal play).
Atlanta / Brooklyn over 214, laying $110 to win $100 (1 unit, normal play).
Houston Rockets (51-25) at Phoenix Suns (22-55), 9 p.m. EST
Line: Rockets -11.5. Total 234.
The Rockets have owned the Suns this season. Houston is 3-0 straight up and ATS against Phoenix and all three wins have covered the listed Vegas line for tonight’s game. The margin of victory for Houston was 14, 16 and 31 in those games. All three games have gone over the Vegas total, too. These two teams totaled 236, 246 and 235 points in their previous meetings.
James Harden has an aggregate total of 99 points, 34 assists and 16 rebounds in those three games against Phoenix.
The Suns are playing on the back-end of a back-to-back after losing to Portland last night 130-117. Phoenix is 7-6 ATS in the back-end of back-to-backs.
Houston has lost three straight games for the third time this season. Two of these games were on the road during this current losing streak. The first time Houston lost three straight (two of those games were at home) was in mid-January. The Rockets ended that losing streak by thrashing the Nets at Brooklyn 137-112. In late January the Rockets lost three straight road games and they followed that up with a fourth straight road loss at Indiana 120-101.
Houston is 5-8 ATS in check-mark games, which are games where a rested team is playing a team on the back-end of a back-to-back.
I have leans on Houston and the over in this contest.
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