NBA Basketball
2012-04-07 - Atlanta Hawks at Charlotte Bobcats
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball
Saturday 7 April 2012 - Tip Off 8pm ET
1am (British Standard Time)
Preview
The Atlanta Hawks (33-23) have taken advantage of a soft portion of their schedule and they will be looking to put the hammer down on the NBA's worst team this season, the Charlotte Bobcats (7-46).
Both teams were in action on Friday night with Atlanta winning their 3rd game from the last 4 and Charlotte going down for the 10th straight game.
Atlanta have found a roll recently with the likes of Josh Smith and Joe Johnson being backed up by Jeff Teague. Teague was in impressive form yesterday as he scored 24 points, tying his career high, and also handed out 11 assists as the Hawks were the 5 point victors over Detroit.
With the Hawks being just 1.5 games behind Indiana in the race for a top 4 seeding in the Eastern Conference, this game is one they cannot afford to let slip from their grasp.
Charlotte were beaten by 5 points at Milwaukee last night and are now in the midst of their second double-digit streak of losses this season. The season cannot end soon enough for the Bobcats as they continue giving some of their younger players the opportunities to build their experiences down the stretch.
One player who is building a good reputation is Byron Mullens as he set career best performances of 31 points and 14 rebounds against the Bucks. Mullens has averaged 19.8 points and 11 rebounds in his last 4 contests, although he was held to just 8 points in the game against Atlanta earlier in the week.
DJ Augustin will miss this game, while Corey Maggette remains on a day-to-day schedule. Eduardo Najera is out after suffering an elbow injury last night.
Head to Head
Atlanta beat Charlotte by 27 points earlier this week and have now won all 3 meetings between the teams this season, both straight up and against the spread.
The Hawks had been 1-5 against the spread in the series before the 3 games this season.
Charlotte are 8-15-1 against the spread at home this season, Atlanta are 15-11-3 on the road.
Charlotte are 20-30-1 against the spread as the underdog, Atlanta are 17-13-2 as the favourite.
Other Interesting Trends
Charlotte are 1-4 against the spread in their last 5 games as the home underdog of between 5 and 10.5 points.
Atlanta are 4-1-1 against the spread in their last 6 games as the road favourite of between 5 and 10.5 points.
Prediction
I am going to back the Atlanta Hawks to cover the spread against the Charlotte Bobcats again tonight for the following reasons:
First, they should be fully confident in being able to dominate the Bobcats having beaten them by a combined 57 points in their last 2 games against them.
Second, the Hawks have been very good against their Divisional rivals this season, going 9-2 against the spread.
Third, Charlotte have not been very good when up against the best teams in the NBA, going 7-19 against the spread this season against teams with a winning record.
The Pick :
Charlotte Bobcats 94-106 Atlanta Hawks
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll back the Atlanta Hawks -9 Points @ 2.00
