For the 2nd consecutive season the Atlanta Hawks find themselves in the play-in tournament, but can they get in just like they did last year? The path is a lot tougher this time around, they’ll have to win both of their play-in games just to face the Boston Celtics in the first round and likely get eliminated. This team just isn’t in the best of shapes right now, they’ve lost 6 games in a row despite getting their star player Trae Young back from injury. The last game of the season was particularly embarrassing as they allowed Indiana to score 157 points on them. A lot of people were left upset due to the lack of effort on defense by the Hawks, let’s see if they can turn things around vs Chicago. They did beat the Bulls in the last regular season meeting, so maybe they can base their optimism on that game?
Chicago battled on the final day vs the Knicks, only to fall in overtime by a single point. On paper they are the better team here, over the last 20 games when they’re the favorite they are 13-7 SU. They’ve also covered the spread in 10 of 14 games vs Southeast Division teams, this is a favorable match-up for DeMar DeRozan’s team. The 34 year old is in the running for clutch player of the year, whenever you have that type of player on your roster in a high stakes game it gives you a ton of confidence. Chicago’s only flaw this year is their lack of three-point shooting. Only 3 teams in the NBA (Portland, Detroit and Orlando) average less threes made per game, this could become an issue against a Hawks team that likes to score a lot.
