Two of the top three teams in the East collide this Monday night, as the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers battle it out for one more time in the regular season. Both clubs have guaranteed themselves a ticket to the postseason, but their respective positions in the conference standings remain in question.
Read on below for everything you need to know about this showdown. And while you’re at it, check out our preview of Kobe Bryant’s second-to-the-last game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
[sc:NBAArticles ]Atlanta Hawks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Preview
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
When: Monday, April 11, 2016, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Atlanta Hawks (+6) at Cleveland Cavaliers (-6); total: 204.5 – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: FSS, FSOH
Betting on the Atlanta Hawks (48-32)
[sc:NBA250 ] The Atlanta Hawks seem to be in postseason form already. They march into this matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers as winners of their last three games, including back-to-back wins over playoff-bound teams like Toronto and Boston. More importantly, the latter victory allowed the Hawks to put themselves a game ahead of the Celtics for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Now the Hawks will look to inch closer at locking up that third spot with another win tonight at the expense of the Cavaliers. Expect Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap, who are averaging 32.9 points combined this season, to lead the charge in doing so.
Millsap, in particular, will be aiming to build on his huge double-double output (31 points, 16 rebounds) from Saturday’s win over Boston. Teague, meanwhile, is gunning for his fifth-consecutive 20-point performance. He is averaging 23.7 points on 47.8 percent shooting and 5.7 assists in his four previous games.
Moreover, Al Horford should prove to be another threat for Cleveland to keep a close eye on. Horford is putting up 15.1 points with 7.2 rebounds and 3.2 dimes this year. He struggled with his stroke, however, during the last meeting with the Cavaliers earlier this month, going 5-of-17 from the field for 14 points.
Over on defense, it’ll be pretty interesting to see how the Hawks, who are allowing just 99.1 points on the road, will limit LeBron James or Kyrie Irving from their finding their groove.
Atlanta is 7-3 SU and ATS in its past 10 road games.
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Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers (56-24)
On the other side, the Cleveland Cavaliers continue to limp towards the playoffs. They’ve fallen short in their past two games, including last Saturday’s three-point loss to Chicago. In that game, the Cavs wasted a spectacular performance from LeBron James, who went 13-of-17 from the floor for a game-high 33 points.
James and co. will now hope to take care of business in their final two regular-season games—both at home. The first is going to be tonight’s critical matchup with the Atlanta Hawks. Cleveland has won the past two meetings and is looking to complete the sweep here.
That said, the Cavs, who are holding just a slim 2.0-game lead over the Raptors for the top spot in the East, will lean on their Big Three in James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to carry them to victory.
James torched the Hawks in their previous meeting on April 1, as he went off for 29 points, 16 boards and nine dimes to help the Cavs escape with the three-point win at Philips Arena. Irving and Love, meanwhile, had 20 and 15 points, respectively, during that game as well.
However, defense and carelessness have been the main problems for the Cavs lately. They’ve allowed no less than 105 points in three of their last four games and have committed a total of 58 turnovers in that same stretch.
Cleveland is 8-2 SU and 5-5 ATS in its last 10 games at the Quicken Loans Arena.
Writer’s Prediction
Cleveland (-6) wins it, 105-101.
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[sc:NBA620 ]
