Atlanta Hawks at Toronto Raptors Betting Preview/Prop Pick

The Atlanta Hawks have won five games in a row, one recently over the Brooklyn Nets. Today, they face the No.6 team in the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Raptors. With their playoff spot in mind, the Hawks will look to overwhelm the Raptors with offense.

The question is, can they pull it off? The Raptors have a strong defense and have been great against high-scoring teams.

Not long ago, the Toronto Raptors faced off against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Minnesota is considered to have the No.1 scoring offense in the NBA. However, when the Timberwolves took on the Raptors, they were held to 102 points.

As the Raptors prepare to face the Hawks, they’ll look to have another strong defensive performance. The question we have is who will cover?

Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young and the Hawks are ready to work

The Hawks actually come into this game as underdogs, surprisingly enough. Atlanta also faced a team with a very strong defense just a few days ago. When they took on the Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta won the game 131-107.

The Cavaliers have a similar defense as the Toronto Raptors. For Atlanta to win this game, they need to focus on what they do best, scoring quickly.

The Hawks average 113.82 points per game, ranking sixth in the NBA. However, their defense is another story, ranking 22nd and allowing 112.40 points per game.

Playoff positioning is on the line here as the Hawks are only a few games behind the Raptors. In order to move up, the Hawks will need to buckle down and play better defense, especially against Toronto’s offense.

Toronto Raptors: After losing to the Heat, Toronto hosts Atlanta

In a tough loss to the Heat, the Toronto Raptors were unable to get their offense off the ground for the entire game. It’s an unfortunate scenario, but they wound up losing the game and snapping their win streak.

The Miami defense proved to be too much for a Toronto offense that only averages 109.26 points per game. Tonight, they’ll need to do much better on offense.

We mentioned above how well the Raptors can perform on defense, ranking eighth in the NBA. Guarding Trae Young will be the first priority here and will fall to Fred VanVleet.

In the last game, the Hawks easily overwhelmed the Raptors; could the same happen here? Atlanta was able to score 127 points in their last meeting with the Raptors, covering the spread and winning.

Atlanta Hawks at Toronto Raptors Betting Prediction

After looking at what each of these teams brings to the table, we’re going to take the Hawks. Sure, the Raptors have a strong defense, but their offense holds them back. The last time they played Atlanta, they were only able to score 100 points.

The Hawks are 5-0 against the spread in their last five games. There are a few players that are ruled out for Toronto in this game, Yuta Watanabe being one of them. We’d also recommend taking the over in this game, as the Hawks have gone over in four out of their last five games.

DunkelIndex Free Pick: Atlanta Hawks +4, OVER

Prop Pick

Atlanta (-120) OVER 111.5 Points

Atlanta is averaging 113.8 points per game on offense, which ranks No. 6 in the league, while shooting 37.3 percent from 3-pt range, which ranks No. 2. Scores have gone OVER in four of the Hawks’ last five games overall.

With Dunkel predicting an Atlanta victory by the score of 119-118, take the Hawks (-120) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 111.5 points against the Raptors.

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