Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Atlanta Hawks Preview
Where: Philips Arena, Atlanta
When: Sunday, April 9, 2017, 3:30 PM ET
Line: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Atlanta Hawks – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: NBATV
NBA News & Predictions
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Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers (51-28)
The Cavaliers just made it harder for themselves to lock up the No. 1 seed in the eastern conference after stunning 114-100 loss to Atlanta on Friday. They’ll get another shot at the Hawks later tonight, when they look for payback, this time in Atlanta.
If the Cavs won later against Atlanta and versus Miami tomorrow, they will officially own the top seed in the conference and could afford to rest their stars on Wednesday, when they play their last game of the regular season versus Toronto. LeBron James was in his usual dominant self in the Atlanta game, scoring 27 points on 12-for-15 shooting to go with eight rebounds and seven assists. Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, meanwhile, supplied 15 and 18 points, respectively. Cleveland’s bench, however, has to pick itself up after getting outscored by the Hawks’ second stringers, 55-21.
For Atlanta’s bench to score that many (including 20 from old man Mike Dunleavy), the Cavs definitely have some issues to solve defensively. They’re currently just 20th in the league with 106.8 points allowed per game.
The Cavs are 6-0 SU and 5-1 ATS in their last six games in Atlanta.
Betting on the Atlanta Hawks (41-38)
Talk about a shock win. Atlanta beat the Cavs on Friday with Dwight Howard, Paul Millsap, Dennis Schroder, and Kent Bazemore sidelined to get some rest.
All three are expected to make back in action later today against the Cavs, meaning Atlanta will no longer have to deploy a starting unit with names like Jose Calderon and Kris Humphries on it just like the team did on Friday.
Atlanta took advantage of the Cavs’ soft defense in that game, particularly from beyond the arc, beating Cleveland in its own game by nailing 16 threes on 37 attempts (43.2%). Tim Hardaway Jr. emerged as the Hawks’ best player for Atlanta, scoring 22 points with four threes and five assists.
With their core starters set to come back from a one-game rest, the Hawks will have all the confidence in today’ game versus LeBron James and company. Howard and Millsap would give the Hawks two elite big men for the Cavs to worry about inside. The Cavs scored 50 points in the pain on Friday but Howard’s presence at the rim should be able to make it harder for Cleveland to get as much attempts and point at the rim. Atlanta is second in the NBA with only 39.0 points allowed per game in the shaded area per NBA.com.
The under is 4-1 in the Hawks’ last five at home.
Writer’s Prediction
Cleveland wins, 110-106.
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