After two wins at home, the Brooklyn Nets have evened out their series with the East’s top-seeded Atlanta Hawks. But can the Nets take a crucial win at Atlanta to erase the Hawks’ home court advantage? Read on for a complete preview for this series’ crucial Game 5.
Aside from this interesting Hawks vs. Nets series, there’s just one more in play in the East. The Milwaukee Bucks kept themselves alive with a crucial road win at Chicago on Monday night. Check out our complete preview for the Bulls vs. Bucks Game 6.
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Brooklyn Nets vs. Atlanta Hawks Game 5 Preview
Series Scores & Schedule
Game 1 — April 19 – Brooklyn Nets 92 at Atlanta Hawks 99
Game 2 — April 22 – Brooklyn Nets 91 at Atlanta Hawks 96
Game 3 — April 25 – Atlanta Hawks 83 at Brooklyn Nets 91
Game 4 — April 27 – Atlanta Hawks 115 at Brooklyn Nets 120 (OT)
Game 5 — April 29, Time TBD, Brooklyn Nets at Atlanta Hawks – view all NBA lines
Game 6 — May 1, Time TBD, Atlanta Hawks at Brooklyn Nets
Game 7* — May 3, Time TBD, Brooklyn Nets at Atlanta Hawks
* If necessary
Betting on the Brooklyn Nets
Brook Lopez is giving Brooklyn a fighting chance in this series. He had just seven shots in Game 1 (he went 6-for-7) to finish with 17 points and 14 rebounds. But he’s ramped it up over Games 2-4, averaging 17 field goal attempts per game. Lopez has scored at least 20 points in each of those games, and finished with double-doubles in the two games at Brooklyn.
[sc:NBA240banner ]Lopez has also been a nightmare on defense against the Hawks. He’s averaging three blocks in the past three games, which has caused problems for Hawks center Al Horford, who has shot 42 percent in the series after shooting 54 percent throughout the regular season.
Brooklyn’s big man has been excellent and all, but the Nets will need Deron Williams to continue his excellent playif they’re to pull off the upset. After two dismal outings (Williams went a combined 2-for-15 in Games 2 and 3), the Nets point guard led all scorers with 35 points in Game 4. He shot 13-of-25 from the field and went a sizzling 7-for-11 from deep. Williams added seven assists to keep the Nets’ offense rolling.
Having Lopez and Williams clicking should draw Atlanta’s defense away from other Nets such as Bojan Bogdanovic and Joe Johnson. Bogdanovic exploded to average 16 points in two games at Brooklyn, but had just a total of 13 points across two games at Atlanta. Johnson has been a steady contributor averaging 17.3 points in the series.
The Nets have covered in all four games in the series.
Betting on the Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are looking far from the team that dominated Brooklyn in the regular season. One of the reasons is Kyle Korver’s salty shooting from downtown. Korver is shooting 33 percent from three-point range in this series thus far compared to 49 percent in the regular season. The Nets have done a fine job limiting Korver in Games 3 and 4 (7-of-24) after he shot over 50 percent from the field in the first two games.
Despite Korver’s struggles, the rest of the Hawks’ starters have played quite well. Jeff Teague had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead Atlanta in their 120-115 Game 4 loss at Brooklyn. After starting the series cold, DeMarre Carroll has finally found his groove, averaging 21 points on 63 percent shooting over the past two games. Paul Millsap finished with back-to-back double-doubles and Al Horford had double-doubles in each of the two games at home.
To ensure that the Hawks can score in the paint, they’ll need Horford and Millsap to play more aggressively and physically inside the paint. Nets center Lopez has been in foul trouble in two of the four games thus far. Getting the Brooklyn big man on the bench for extended periods of time should help Atlanta to attempt more high-percentage shots in the paint.
The Hawks could also get some much needed production from their ever-reliable bench. The Atlanta bench has outscored Brooklyn’s 104-93 thus far in the series. Dennis Schröder leads the way for the Hawks reserves, averaging 9.5 points over the first four games.
The total has gone under in four of the Hawks’ last five at home.
Writer’s Prediction
The Hawks take Game 5, but Brooklyn covers once again. This series is suddenly heating up. Create a betting account now and get in on the action.
