NBA Betting Odds: Atlanta Hawks at Charlotte Bobcats

Added on Jan 22, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

The NBA odds for a busy Saturday have been posted, and we’ll look now at a Southeast Division matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Bobcats. The Hawks have been in solid form of late, winning 7 of their L10 and now just 2.5 games back of Southeast Division leading Miami. The Bobcats are well off the pace, but have looked much better since Paul Silas took over as head coach from Larry Brown.

Atlanta Hawks at Charlotte Bobcats
January 22, 2011 4:05 PM Pacific

Nothing but respect for what Paul Silas has accomplished in his short stint as head coach. Bobcats have won 7 of 10 SU and they’ve covered 7 of their last 9 games in the process. Silas has changed Larry Brown’s defense first system into a more uptempo style which is arguably a better fit for the talent on hand and definitely a style the players are happier with. We’re just not so sure they should be favored here. It’s definitely a good scheduling spot for Charlotte, with Atlanta coming off a blowout home loss to New Orleans while the Bobcats were idle. Interestingly–and despite the Hawks success in recent years–the Bobcats have also dominated head to head play in the series. Since they entered the league, Charlotte is 14-11 SU/18-7 ATS against the Hawks and 10-2 SU/ATS at home. Since 2008, the Bobcats are 7-2 ATS though the Hawks do hold a 6-3 SU advantage. At home, the Bobcats are 3-1 SU/ATS.

The Hawks, however, are undoubtedly a better team and have been in very good form winning 12 of their last 17 games. They’re also not going to be in a good mood coming off an embarrassing loss to New Orleans at Phillips Arena last night. Atlanta was held to 25 second half points in a 100-59 humiliation, scoring the fewest points in any game since they moved to Atlanta in 1968. The only worse single game point output was when the team was playing in St. Louis–they scored 57 points in a game in 1955. The fact that there have been so many awful Hawks teams during their tenure in Atlanta makes last night’s game even more embarrassing. The Hornets game was a tough emotional spot for Atlanta, as they were coming off a hard fought OT win over Miami. We expect a lot of intensity from Atlanta here, and all we need them to do is get the outright win. They’re 6-2 SU this year against divisional foes and 20-6 SU against opponents with losing records. Current line at 5 Dimes Sportsbook has the Hawks installed as a +2 dog and we look for them to put up a strong effort and get the outright win.

Bet Atlanta Hawks +2 over Charlotte Bobcats