Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Preview/Prop Picks

The Atlanta Hawks, led by Trae Young, come in as obvious favorites in this game. Their first play-in game ended in a 132-103 dominant win over the Charlotte Hornets. However, taking on the Cavaliers will be much different than facing the Hornets. Cleveland has one of the top-rated defenses in the NBA. Can Young and the rest of the Hawks find a way to get a win on the road?

The Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves in a tough position. They took a 115-108 loss to the Brooklyn Nets and now are facing another incredible offense. The Cavaliers will still be without Jarrett Allen tonight, leaving their interior slightly weaker. The good news is they can turn to Evan Mobley, their power forward. With Mobley, the Cavaliers have a shot at winning this one.

Atlanta Hawks: Penetrating the Defense is Priority One

The Hawks might need to get crafty as they face the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland ranks fifth in points allowed per game (105.78), so the Hawks need to find a way around it. They also need to work the ball to Trae Young and create scoring opportunities for him. In their game against the Hornets, Young put up 24 points and 11 assists. We expect even more from him tonight.

Now, the problem for the Hawks isn’t with the offense, but with their defense. On average, the Hawks are giving up 112.27 points per game ranking 21st in the NBA. Although the Cleveland offense isn’t nearly as good as Atlanta’s, a poor defense can even that out. Atlanta needs to tighten up their defense here and focus on stopping Evan Mobley and Caris LeVert.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Strong Offensive Output is Needed

If there’s one reason the Cavaliers won’t win this game, it’s because of their offense. As a team, Cleveland ranks among the worst in the NBA in scoring points per game (107.80). If they can’t score efficiently on offense, they’ll lose to the Hawks tonight. They can increase their chances of scoring by finding opportunities for everyone on the team. This way focus is taken off of Mobley.

Leaning on their defense will help them here, but only for so long. They were able to avoid the wrath of Brooklyn early in the game with good defense. However, after a few quarters, the Nets' offense started to overwhelm Cleveland. The Cavaliers' offense couldn’t battle back and they lost the game 115-108. There’s a good chance something similar happens in tonight’s game.

Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers Betting Prediction

After looking at each of these teams, we feel the Hawks are a much better bet. They come in as only two-point favorites, so they won’t need to cover by much. In their last three games against Cleveland, the Hawks are 3-0. In those three games, the Hawks have a 3-0 record against the spread as well. 

Their last game against the Cavaliers was in late March and the Hawks won easily, 131-107. The difference here is offense, Atlanta is too good at scoring, even against a good defense. The more important part is that the Cavaliers can’t keep up, which is why we’ll take Atlanta. We’ll also take the over in this game since the last three meetings have gone over the expected total.

DUNKELINDEX Free Pick: Atlanta Hawks -2, OVER

Prop Picks

Atlanta (-110) OVER 112.5 Points

Atlanta is averaging 113.9 points per game on offense, which ranks No. 6 in the league, while shooting 37.4 percent from 3-pt range, which ranks No. 2. Scores have gone OVER in 15 of the Hawks’ last 20 road games versus Cleveland.

With Dunkel predicting an Atlanta road victory by the score of 119-114, take the Hawks (-110) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 112.5 points against the Cavaliers.

Trae Young (-120) OVER 29.5 Points

Young is averaging 28.4 points per game, which ranks No. 1 on the Hawks and No. 6 in the league. That average increases to 29.4 points per game in his last 10 games overall and 32.5 points per game in four contests versus Cleveland this year.

With Dunkel predicting a Hawks victory with the point total going OVER the Vegas line, take Young (-120) to finish OVER his Vegas total of 29.5 points against the Cavaliers.

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