NBA Betting: Atlanta Hawks at Philadelphia 76ers

Added on Mar 23, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

The slumping Atlanta Hawks take their sorry show on the road on Wednesday night as they head to Philadelphia to take on the dangerous 76ers. Hawks are currently in 5th place in the Eastern Conference but slipping fast, while Philadelphia is in 6th place and could pick up a full game in the standings with a win here.

Atlanta Hawks at Philadelphia 76ers
March 23, 2011 4:05 PM Pacific

If the NBA standings were determined by focus and effort, the Atlanta Hawks would already be a ‘lock’ for the draft lottery. They’ve got plenty of talent but just don’t seem to care on most nights. They can eke out wins over inferior teams but roll over against the league’s elite–like last night’s non-competitive 114-81 home loss to the Chicago Bulls. That’s bad news for them here because the Philadelphia 76ers may not be an ‘elite’ team yet but they are a very solid home team. Sixers are 22-11 SU/21-12 ATS at the Wachovia Center and unlike the Hawks can be counted on to give a solid effort on most nights.

Sixers are 17-10 ATS as a favorite, 12-3 ATS against the Central Division and a perfect 3-0 this year with 3 or more days rest. The Hawks are 5-10 ATS against the Atlantic Division, 10-19 ATS against teams with winning records and 5-11 against teams over .500 in the second half of the season. And so much for Atlanta being a good defensive side–they’re 11-20 ATS this year against good offenses (defined at scoring 99+ PPG) and 4-10 ATS the second half of the season. Sixers are 11-7 ATS in their last 18 games, Hawks are 7-12 ATS in their last 19. That’s a pretty clear reflection of the teams’ relative effort–or lack thereof–on a game by game basis. Sixers have covered 4 of the last 6 in head to head play including 3 of 4 in Philadelphia. Sixers do have a potential lookahead to a game against Miami on Friday night, but Doug Collins has been good at keeping them focused on the task at hand this year. Sixers won by 34 in Atlanta on February 8 but the Hawks are 9-17 ATS in revenge spots this season. We’ll look for additional spots to play on Philadelphia and against Atlanta as the season winds down as they’re clearly teams heading in different directions.

Bet Philadelphia 76ers -7 over Atlanta Hawks