NBA Basketball
2012-01-02 - Atlanta Hawks at Miami Heat
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Monday 2 January 2012 - Tip Off 7:30pm ET
12:30am (British Standard Time)
Preview
There were a few rumours going around yesterday that the Miami Heat (5-0) may not have been in top form for their New Year's Day game with the Charlotte Bobcats as LeBron James had hosted a private party on New Year's Eve which his team-mates all attended.
Those rumours were quickly erased as they came out and completely and utterly dominated Charlotte while recording a 39 point win and now they get ready to once again stamp their authority on the Eastern Conference as they host one of the better teams in the form of the Atlanta Hawks (3-1).
Atlanta have taken advantage of a nice opening to their schedule as they faced the New Jersey Nets twice and the Washington Wizards to open the season with 3 straight wins. However, they were not as effective when they visited the Houston Rockets who handed them their first defeat of the season.
This next week will tell us a lot about this Atlanta team as they face the best teams in the Eastern Conference- they play back to back nights at Miami and Chicago, and they will round up the week by hosting the same two teams back home.
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were all given an extended rest last night with the game well in hand and I don't expect tiredness to be a factor as none of the starters reached 30 minutes playing time.
James should be particularly looking forward to this contest as he averaged 33.3 points per game in the series against the Hawks last season, the most against any team in the East. Atlanta will hope for better from their star player, Joe Johnson, who averaged just 12.7 points per game in 3 contests against the Heat last season.
Head to Head
Miami have dominated the recent series between the teams, going 6-1 both straight up and against the spread in the last 7 games.
The Heat were 3-1 against Atlanta last season, although they did split the games in Miami 1-1, both straight up and against the spread.
However, the Hawks are just 5-17 against the spread in their last 22 games in Miami.
Miami are 2-3 against the spread this season, Atlanta are 2-2.
Other Interesting Trends
Miami are 7-3 against the spread in their last 10 games at home.
They are just 2-5 against the spread in their last 7 games played on back to back nights.
Atlanta are just 1-4 against the spread in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record at home.
Prediction
I am going to back the Miami Heat to lay down another marker for teams in the Eastern Conference by covering the spread for the following reasons:
First, Miami seem to have the mental edge over Atlanta in recent meetings, having dominated the series both straight up and against the spread.
Second, the Heat should be fully rested having had an easy night last night and I am not so concerned about the back to back on this occasion.
Third, I just feel the defensive schemes created by Miami makes it very tough for Atlanta offensively and that could allow the Heat to pull away for the cover.
The Pick :
Miami Heat 100-88 Atlanta Hawks
