Get prepped for what’s sure to be a riveting NBA playoffs series between the No.5 seeded Atlanta Hawks and the No.4 seeded NY Knicks, which is set to get underway on Sunday night. We examine the first game of this Eastern playoff bracket and serve up choice NBA picks.
Sunday, May 23, 2021 – 07:00 PM EDT at Madison Square Garden
The Atlanta Hawks finished the season behind a 41-31 mark and clinched the Southeast Division. Their record on the season was the exact same record that the NY Knicks strung together as well, suggesting very little separates this pair as far as general form goes. Truth of the matter though, there is a point of separation: the Knicks dominated the head-to-head series over the Hawks, sweeping the southeast division champions 3-0 (both home and away.).
Thus, the Hawks will be eyeing their first win against the Knicks when the pair collide on Sunday at the magnificent Madison Square Garden. "We are excited about playoff basketball," Atlanta Hawks interim head coach Nate McMillan said Friday. "It’s an exciting time for the NBA.”
McMillan was making his first appearance since being fined by the league $25,000 for suggesting to his boys that the league was in some way going to be more partial to the Knicks in this series. Apparently, implying that even the officiating might favor the hosts in an attempt to propel the Knicks on account of the coveted big New York market into the second round. McMillan defended those comments saying that they were “taken out of context” and that he was only looking to motivate his boys to get up for this series.
Game 1 of the series is delicately poised with the Hawks catching merely 1.5 points in early point spread betting markets. They’re obviously the underdogs in this contest but not by much to be fair. If that’s not an encouraging sign in their favor, what is? To be spotted merely by 1.5 points implies their dangerous floater credentials are legitimate and being considered by bookmakers at multiple top sportsbooks.
It remains though ,the fact that the Hawks have yet to get the measure on the Knicks. In three meetings, the Hawks lost 113-108 on the road and 123-112 and 137-127 at home to the Knicks. Overall, on the season, the Hawks went 39-32-1 ATS with a 2.3 winning margin on average. That ATS record includes a 16-19-1 ATS mark and a -1.7 losing margin as the away team.
Although the league isn’t about advancing one team unfairly over another, odds makers do exactly that on the odds board. Here, the Knicks have game 1 cornered in their camp with moneyline odds ranging from -115 to -125, as well as laying -1.5 points to the Hawks. It’s worth noting that where the latter market is concerned, the Knicks are taking the bulk of early betting according to consensus betting reports that show 89% of early tickets are laying the points with the Knicks.
The Knicks finished the season as the best team against the spread with a 45-26-1 mark and a 2.3 winning margin on average. At home, the Knicks went 22-13-1 ATS with a 4.1 winning margin on average. As the betting trends show, the Knicks have put together an impressive campaign backed by their top five defense and second-best three-point field goal percentage in the league. Importantly, home advantage has been a charm for the Knicks as they’ve gone 25-11-0 SU, which is the sixth best home record in the league.
The matchup between the Hawks and Knicks strike’s an interesting chord as it’s going to showcase the contrasting strengths of both teams. The Hawks are mostly offensive-minded while the Knicks are heavily reliant on their sound defending. Something’s gotta give on Sunday night obviously.
The Knicks are emerging as a popular NBA pick in game 1. Whether that’ll hold true until game time remains to be seen, as late bettors could go either way in the betting on such a tight NBA line. One of the reasons why late bettors might turn towards the Hawks is the fact that they’re likely to have their full complement of stars available. In the three previous meetings, Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Trae Young miss all or part of those games.
NBA Pick: Hawks +1.5 (-109) with GTbets