Atlanta Hawks at Miami Heat
Tuesday, 1/18/11, 7:30 PM EDT, TV: NBA TV
Atlanta will have a difficult time scoring a victory in Miami regardless of who makes it on the floor Tuesday night due to dropping 25 of 28 since the start of the 1996-97 season when playing in South Beach. The Hawks are 27-15 overall on the season and have tallied an 8-6 mark on the road against Eastern Conference opponents. “They’re a tough team,” said coach Larry Drew. “Anytime you have guys that can potentially be 20-plus every night, you got your hands full.” The team is likely to rely heavily on its defense in trying to pull off the upset tonight, holding opponents to 92.9 points per game over the last 15 contests. On the season, the Hawks are allowing 95.3 points a game, which is tied for the eighth best mark in the NBA. Atlanta is 7-5 ATS on the year when playing on back-to-back days and bettors must check out the NBA lines page for more information.
The Hawks are certainly happy that guard Joe Johnson has turned things around since missing time with an elbow injury. He has averaged 28.9 points on 52.4 percent shooting over the last seven games. In last night’s 100-98 win over Sacramento, Johnson scored a season-high 36 points. “We tried everything on Joe Johnson throughout the game,” said Kings coach Paul Westphal. “But the guy was just magnificent.” Center Al Horford is also an important piece of the puzzle in adding 23 points and nine rebounds last night, while continuing to be the only player in the NBA hitting 55 percent or better from the field and 82 percent or better from the free throw line.
Miami is not only dealing with its second three-game losing streak of the season, but has major injury concerns heading into tonight’s action. Forward Chris Bosh is likely out with an ankle injury and LeBron James’ sprained left ankle has him listed as uncertain. Guard Dwyane Wade also missed practice with a sore knee, but is the most likely “Big Three” member to make it onto the court tonight. “We’re dealing with a little adversity,” said James. “But the confidence and the mood hasn’t changed.” The Heat will be meeting with the Hawks for the second time this season and picked up an 89-77 home victory in the first meeting on December 4, 2010. Miami is 6-12 ATS at home this season and 1-6 ATS when playing with two days of rest.
The Heat have scored at least 90 points in 20 consecutive games, which is the sixth best streak in franchise history. Miami also sits atop the league in some important defensive categories, including first in opponent field goal percentage (.429), first in opponent three-point field goal percentage (.325) and fourth in points allowed (93.7). The defense has really turned it up against the Hawks when playing in tonight’s venue, allowing just 80.5 points on 38.2 percent shooting in winning four straight in the series.
Bettors will likely back the Heat due to the home team being 7-1 ATS in the last eight meetings while the Hawks are 6-13 ATS versus the Southeast division.
