Atlanta Hawks at Los Angeles Lakers
Tuesday, 2/22/11, 10:30 PM EDT
Opening Point Spread: Los Angeles -8
Current Betting Line: Los Angeles -7
Opening Total: 190
Current Total: 189
Atlanta dropped three of its last four games heading into the All-Star break and will look to improve upon its fifth place positioning in the Eastern conference race. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, a lot of things we need to clean up and we will do that,” said coach Larry Drew. “This league can do that to you when you don’t stick to what you know and what works for you.” The Hawks dropped a 102-90 decision in their final game before the break against the Knicks, as they never seemed to get things going in the contest. The team enters tonight’s game with a 34-21 overall record and a 17-12 road mark. With its 17-12 record, Atlanta has the fifth-most road wins in the NBA and will be looking to finish over .500 away from home for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign. The squad is 9-7 ATS as an underdog this season and currently getting points on the NBA lines page.
The Hawks have been a remarkably consistent team in terms of tallying winning months, finishing January with a 9-4 mark, which happened to be their 14th consecutive winning month. Atlanta is also getting it done on the offensive end, ranking ninth in the league in field goal percentage and sixth at the free throw line. The team will need to use those statistics to gain confidence against Tuesday’s opponent, as they’ve dropped four straight to the Lakers in Los Angeles by an average of 15.2 points a contest.
Los Angeles desperately needs a win against Atlanta due to a miserable finish to its seven-game road trip heading into the break. The Lakers actually picked up victories in the first four games, only to drop the final three, including a unthinkable 104-99 defeat in Cleveland. “It’s back to the drawing board,” said forward Lamar Odom. “Defense. Cohesiveness. Our chemistry on offense. I’m not that worried. I think it’s things we can fix.” The team has compiled a 38-19 overall record and is currently 19-8 at home, including a 8-4 mark versus Eastern foes. Los Angeles is 9-20 ATS against Southeast division opponents the last three years.
The Lakers split last season’s series with Atlanta 1-1 for the third consecutive year. Los Angeles has not lost a season series to the Hawks since 1978-79, but have actually split the series in nine of the last 10 years. Under head coach Phil Jackson, the team is 12-8 against Atlanta, while star Kobe Bryant has averaged 22.6 points a game in 21 career games. He is coming off a spectacular performance in the 60th NBA All-Star Game, earning MVP honors with a game-high 37 points.
Bettors are likely going to back the Lakers due to the home team being 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings, while the Hawks are 0-5 ATS versus the Western Conference.
