NBA BASKETBALL BETTING PREVIEW - ATLANTA HAWKS @ INDIANA PACERS

NBA Basketball

2010-11-16 - Atlanta Hawks at Indiana Pacers

A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown

Atlanta Hawks @ Indiana Pacers
United States: NBA Basketball
Tuesday 16 November 2010 - Tip-Off 7pm ET
Midnight (British Standard Time)

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Preview

The Atlanta Hawks (7-4) ended their losing streak but they almost choked in another position where they held a big lead in the 4th Quarter. However, it might just be nice for the players to finally put another W in the column after losing 4 in a row. The Hawks may also feel a little more comfortable playing the Indiana Pacers (4-4).

Atlanta ended the 4 match losing run with a 6 point home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, but they were leading by 15 with 8 minutes left only to allow Minnesota to within 4 before closing the show. The Hawks have had trouble with leads all season, shooting only 35% from the field when leading by 15 points or more in games. At the same time, they seem to shut of Defensively, allowing 49% from the field when leading by that number.

It is a chance here for Atlanta to improve to 5-1 on the road for the first time in 13 years.

Indiana have been struggling for consistency this season, interchanging wins and losses in their last 4 games as they get ready to open up a 3 game homestand. They had a superb Defensive effort in the final Quarter to secure a win over Cleveland last time out.

Mike Dunleavy and Danny Granger were both excellent again, scoring 54 points of the 99 team total between them. Neither player made much of an impact in the season series last year, but Granger has averaged 23.5 points per game in his last 6 home starts against the Hawks, helping Indiana win 5 of those.

Roy Hibbert is another who feels he has something to prove against Atlanta and is averaging career high so far this season for the Pacers.

Head to Head

Atlanta have won the last 6 games in the series between the two sides. More importantly for us, they are 5-1 against the spread in those games.

The home team is 10-3 against the spread in the last 13 games in the series, but the favourite is also 8-2 ATS in the last 10 games.

The Pacers are 11-5-1 against the spread in their last 17 home games overall.

Prediction

It is hard to be confident in the Atlanta Hawks after their recent run of results and also the way they seem to go into their shell if they build a lead in a game. However, the team does match up well against the Pacers and this could give them the edge.

Indiana will look for their two wingmen, Granger and Dunleavy to find space for their 3 point shooting, something that worked well against Cleveland last time out. The team is inconsistant at the moment, and have not quite found their form Defensively to produce back to back performances.

This is going to be a tight game, but I think the Hawks could have a little bit of confidence after breaking their losing streak and after a good set of results against Indiana over the last couple of seasons.

I will take the Hawks minus the points.

The Pick :