A wild last day of the regular season finally gave the Eastern Conference its eighth seed in the playoffs as the Brooklyn Nets clinched the last postseason berth by way of an Indiana Pacers loss. There’s no cause for a party for the Nets, though, as they’re about to cross paths with the conference’s top seeds in the Atlanta Hawks. Will the Nets be mere sacrificial lambs for Atlanta? Or will they prove to be more than just cannon fodders? Read on for more about this game below. You can also click here for Game 1 of the series between the Celtics and the Cavaliers.
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Brooklyn Nets vs. Atlanta Hawks Preview
Series Scores & Schedule
Game 1 — April 19, 3:00 PM ET, Brooklyn Nets (+10) at Atlanta Hawks (-10); total: 201.5 – view all NBA lines
Game 2 — April 22, 7:00 PM ET, Brooklyn Nets at Atlanta Hawks
Game 3 — April 25, 7:00 PM ET, Cleveland Cavaliers at Brooklyn Nets
Game 4 — April 27, 1:00 PM ET, Cleveland Cavaliers at Brooklyn Nets
Game 5 — April 29, Time TBD, Brooklyn Nets at Atlanta Hawks
Game 6 — May 1, Time TBD, Cleveland Cavaliers at Brooklyn Nets
Game 7 — May 3, Time TBD, Brooklyn Nets at Atlanta Hawks
Betting on the Brooklyn Nets
For some reason, the 38-44 Nets managed to sneak into the postseason. But everyone will have to live with that, thanks to a late season surge by Brooklyn, which went 13-6 over its last 19 games.
[sc:NBA240banner ]Brook Lopez played a big role in Brooklyn’s success during that stretch, as he led the team with an average of 22.3 points and 9.5 rebounds. For Brooklyn to have a chance against Atlanta, the Nets are going to need more of the same numbers from Lopez. That being said, Brooklyn can’t live on Lopez’s production alone. The Nets would be in a better position to pull off a series upset if Joe Johnson and Deron Williams can play like the superstars they once were.
Johnson, who played seven seasons with Atlanta, is Brooklyn’s second-leading scorer with 14.4 per game. Johnson, however, is an inconsistent scorer, one that’s capable of putting up a ton of points but also has the tendency to disappoint on any given night. Hopefully for Brooklyn, Johnson’s 21-point performance in the last regular season meeting with Atlanta—a 114-111 Brooklyn loss—is a sign that Johnson is about to have a great series versus the Hawks.
Similar to Johnson, Williams also has his fair share of inconsistencies all throughout the regular season. The Nets can’t afford Williams to have an underwhelming series, as he’s tasked with running an offense with decent wing players in Johnson and Thaddeus Young and a solid post operator in Lopez. Williams has averaged 13 points and 6.6 assists in 68 games played in the regular season.
The Nets, who are 21st in the league in scoring with 98 points per game, are 3-1 ATS in their last four games in Atlanta.
What a difference a year makes. From being an eighth seed in last year’s playoffs, the Hawks made quite an improvement this season and secured the Eastern Conference’s top seed. They’ll look to surpass their first-round finish in 2014 this time around, as they take on an unlikely playoff team in Brooklyn.
Atlanta barges into the playoffs on the heels of an ugly three-game losing streak, though that was largely due to coach Mike Budenholzer opting to rest his key players. That being said, Atlanta doesn’t lack any confidence when it takes on the Nets on Sunday. After all, the Hawks have swept their regular season series with Brooklyn, beating the Nets by an average of 17.6 points in four games.
In winning all those matchups against Brooklyn, the Hawks simply used the same winning formula they have been using throughout the regular season: finesse ball movement and cutthroat defense. Atlanta averaged 114 points in those meetings to go along with 31.5 assists. On defense, the Hawks limited Brooklyn to just 96.8 points per game. They are seventh in the league in defensive efficiency with 100.7 points allowed per 100 possessions.
Because they share the ball so unselfishly, the Hawks managed to top the East even without a player averaging more than 20 points per game. Instead, they have six players averaging in double figures led by Paul Millsap, who is putting up 16.7 points per game. Jeff Teague and Al Horford, meanwhile, average 15.9 and 15.2 points per outing, respectively.
The Hawks are 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS in their last five games against Brooklyn.
