Cleveland’s losing woes are finally over after they eased past the Charlotte Hornets in the first game of their five-game home stand. They can make it two wins in a row this coming Wednesday, but will be in tough when they host the red-hot Atlanta Hawks who are fresh off a thrilling seven-point victory over the Chicago Bulls Monday night.
Read on below for a preview of this matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the NCAA basketball game between Duke and Connecticut here.
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Atlanta Hawks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Preview
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
When: Wednesday, December 17, 2014, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Atlanta Hawks (+5.5) at Cleveland Cavaliers (-5.5); total: 201.5 – view all NBA lines
Betting on the Atlanta Hawks
There’s just no stopping the Atlanta Hawks right now. On Monday, they defeated the Chicago Bulls to nab their 10th victory in 11 games.
[sc:NBA240banner ]Key to Atlanta’s dominance this season is the way they’re sharing the basketball. The Hawks are third in the league in assists this season with 25.4 dimes per game. Their passing was put to devastating use against the Bulls in a game in which they recorded a total of 26 assists. It was the 22nd time in 24 games that the Hawks have dished out at least 20 dimes.
In fact, the Hawks are recording assists on 67.4 percent of their made baskets, the best mark in the NBA. Leading the way for the Hawks this season in the assist department is Jeff Teague who’s playing some excellent basketball in his second year under Budenholzer. He not only leads the team in assists (7.0) but he paces the team in points as well, scoring 17.0 points per game this campaign.
It was Al Horford, however, who did the most damage for the Hawks in their game against the Bulls, scoring 21 points including a critical jumper with just a minute remaining to seal Atlanta’s seventh straight home win.
It’s vital for the Hawks to keep pounding the ball inside to Horford this coming Wednesday against the Cavaliers. The Cavs have proven to be quite fragile inside, allowing 44.3 points per game in the shaded area, the seventh-worst mark in the NBA this season.
The Hawks are 5-5 in their last 10 games on the road.
There’s definitely no place like home for the Cleveland Cavaliers after they snapped their two-game losing rut with a 97-88 victory over the Charlotte Hornets in the first game of their five-game home stand. LeBron James and Kevin Love set the tone for the Cavs as they helped Cleveland race to a quick 21-0 lead, the largest to start a game since Portland exploded for 22 points in their game against Boston back in 2004.
James scored 27 points and dished out 13 assists while Kevin Love added 22 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers to their sixth-straight win at home. Extending that streak to seven games won’t be that easy, though, as they will face an Atlanta side that is looking unstoppable as of late.
Still, the Cavaliers will fancy their chances of grabbing the win this coming Wednesday because of the way they manhandled the Hawks in their season-opening encounter a month ago. Just like in their game against Charlotte, the Cavs started that game like a house on fire burying their first nine field goal attempts to coast to an easy 127-94 win.
That game was the first time this season that the Big Three looked like one efficient unit as they combined for 65 points on 24-of-41 shooting from the field. What made the Cavs hard to stop in that game, however, was their red-hot shooting from beyond the arc. They shot 19-of-31 from the three-point line in that game for a mind-blowing 61.3 percent clip, way above their 36 percent clip for the season.
It’s crucial for the Cavs to sustain their hot shooting against an Atlanta team that is eighth in the NBA in scoring defense, allowing 96.9 points per game. Expected to carry the scoring cudgels for the Cavs once again are James, Love and Irving who are averaging a combined 63.7 points per game this season. That is 61 percent of the Cavs’ entire offensive output this year.
On the other side of the ball, it is vital for Cleveland to disrupt Atlanta’s free-flowing offense. It’s no coincidence that the Hawks failed to reach the 20-assist mark in their last defeat to the Orlando Magic. In order for the Cavs to repeat that feat, it’s important that they stop Atlanta’s main facilitator, Teague.
The onus is on Kyrie Irving to do just that. He leads the Cavaliers in steals this season with 1.6 per game.
The Cavaliers are 7-3 in their last 10 home games.
