NBA Basketball
2013-04-29 - Indiana Pacers at Atlanta Hawks
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball Play Offs
Monday 29 April 2013 - Tip Off 7:30pm
12:30am (British Time)
Preview
There are not many times that Frank Vogel and I will be thinking along the same lines but I think Game 3 was certainly one of those moments. Personally, and I am sure Vogel felt the same, I have no idea where that poor offensive performance from the Indiana Pacers came from as they were blown out by the Atlanta Hawks and scored just 69 points despite averaging 110 in the first two games of the series.
Atlanta halved the deficit to the Pacers in this series by taking Game 3 and they will feel they can level up before heading back to Indianapolis. The Hawks have won 12 in a row against the Pacers at home and feel they are no longer going to be bullied in the series.
That was down to the performance of Ivan Johnson whose willingness to stand up to the Pacers helped get the crowd into the game and inspired the Hawks to put Indiana away.
Indiana won't be totally disheartened by the performance in Game 3 as they have put a lot of their troubles down to their own bad mistakes. The team shot less than 28% from the field and they turned the ball over too many times and these are adjustments they can make themselves.
George Hill and Lance Stephenson particularly struggled in Game 3 and both will be expected to make a few more of the shots that seemed to be open for them. At half time, Indiana had missed 32 of 42 shots taken and it was as bad as it got offensively for them.
Head to Head
Atlanta trail Indiana 3-4 in the season series thanks to their win in Game 3 and the home team has won every game.
The Hawks have won 12 in a row at home against Indiana.
Prediction
The over was far short of the mark in Game 3, but it came up trumps in the first two games of this series and I still think it is the best play when these two teams meet.
The over is still 5-1 in the last 6 in the series, while 6 of the 8 games between the teams this season would have surpassed the total set for Game 4.
The Pick :
Atlanta Hawks 98-95 Indiana Pacers
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll back Over 186 Points @ 1.95
