Houston at Atlanta
Time: 7:30 PM ET
TV: NBA TV
Line: ATL -9
Total: 199
Betting odds c/o Bovada
The Hawks have already shown the West that it is a team to be feared if it can emerge from the Eastern Conference playoffs. Atlanta knocked off Golden State 124-116 on Feb 6 and is 16-4 SU against the Western Conference this season.
The Hawks may not sport a lot of top end talent, but it plays well together as a team and has no shortage of options. The overwhelming sentiment that a Big two or Big three is necessary to compete in today’s NBA has been proven wrong in a way not seen since the Ben Wallace Pistons teams.
Hosting the Houston Rockets tonight the Hawks find itself 9-point favorites in NBA daily lines over James Harden and company. The total is set at 199, and for an explanation of how to bet that see our NBA odds explained.
Atlanta is 27-4 SU at home this season and sent four players to the All-Star game. Paul Millsap has thrived in Atlanta, as the undersized 4-man leads the team in both scoring (16.9 points) and rebounding (8.1). Point guard Jeff Teague is not often given credit for being an elite floor general, but both his defensive metrics and offensive numbers suggest otherwise.
The playmaker is tied for the highest PER on the team (21.7 with Al Horford) while averaging 16.8 points, 7.3 assists and 2.23 steals/blocks per game. Kyle Korver is shooting an unheard of 51 percent from behind the arc and is no longer a defensive blemish as he once was earlier in his career.
Horford is steady and consistent as a big man can be, and is a smart defensive player whose team defense goes a long ways towards keeping the Hawks as tough as they are on the defensive end of the court. Though the Hawks have got back on its winning ways as winners of seven of its past 10 games, and Atlanta holds a decisive 9.5 game lead on No. 2 Toronto.
Atlanta’s ball movement is second only to San Antonio’s in terms of efficiency and ranks 2nd in the NBA in assists per game, with the Hawks averaging 25.6 assists on 56 made field goals per game, also turning the ball over only 13.4 times per contest. The Hawks do so many of the small things well that it makes the lack of a superstar seem almost natural, and Teague is fully capable of isolating in late game situations to get buckets. Just because no Hawk has to play more than 33 minutes per game doesn’t mean this is a team deplete of star talent. Four semi-stars blended in the right balance are equally as good as two or three premier talents and a bench bereft of any difference makers.
Houston is situated No. 3 in the Western Conference and has a 18-6 SU record against the Eastern Conference this year. The Rockets are also 18-10 on the road this season. Kevin McHale will be without the services of not only Dwight Howard tonight but also James Harden who was suspended for a game due to his kick of LeBron James’ groin. In addition to that, Kostas Papanikolaou is questionable due to a right ankle sprain.
The Rockets have been rolling without Howard, but Harden is an MVP candidate this season and the entire engine of Houston. To imagine the Rockets knocking off the best team in the East without its star player seems to be a bit absurd. The 9-point NBA betting spread by oddsmakers at Bovada seems to be about right, given that the Rockets are going to have to rely so heavily on Trevor Ariza, Josh Smith and Patrick Beverley to make up an enormous amount of slack.
