NBA Betting Odds: Chicago Bulls at Atlanta Hawks

Added on Mar 22, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NBA

Short slate of NBA betting options on Tuesdays card but we’ll take a look at an Eastern Conference battle between teams headed in opposite directions as the Atlanta Hawks host the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls are playing better than any team in the NBA at the moment winning 9 of 10 and are currently tied with the Boston Celtics for the best record in the East. The Hawks have slipped to 5th place in the conference and are just 4-6 in their last 10 games.

Chicago Bulls at Atlanta Hawks
March 22, 2011 5:05 PM Pacific

Over the long term, one of the best strategies for profitable sports betting is to go against plays that look completely obvious. And it doesn’t get more ‘obvious’ than taking the red hot Chicago Bulls against the bumbling Atlanta Hawks. The Bulls are 20-14 ATS on the road and an impressive 19-9 SU/19-8-1 ATS against opponents with winning records. They’ve got the look of a NBA Championship contender while the Hawks look content to play out the string and head into the postseason with no momentum at all. Atlanta is a woeful 13-22 ATS at Phillips Arena–not surprising given the fact that their fan base often shows up to cheer on their opponents. They’re a pitiful 9-20 SU against opponents with winning records this year and have gone 10-19 ATS. They’re currently on a 5-11 SU/ATS run against opponents over .500. Chicago has covered 14 of their last 18 games, while Atlanta has failed to cover in 11 of their last 18.

While this looks like a slamdunk to play on the Bulls it’s important to keep in mind that they didn’t build all of those big hotels in the desert by rewarding players who do the ‘obvious’ thing. The Hawks will enter this game rested and coming off a decent home win over Detroit on Sunday. The Bulls are in the second of back to back games with an easy win over Sacramento on Monday. The Bulls are 9-8 ATS in the second of back to back spots, but after the vig that’s pretty much a ‘break even’ number. For whatever reason, the Bulls have been at their worst as a road favorite in this price range (-3′ to -6) going just 4-4 SU and 3-5 ATS. And for whatever reason, the Hawks have been at their best against the Central Division this year with a 11-4 SU/10-5 ATS record. More surprisingly, they’ve dominated the head to head series–both SU and ATS. Since 2008 Atlanta is 7-2 SU/ATS against Chicago including a perfect 4-0 SU/ATS at Phillips Arena. That includes a 83-80 SU Atlanta win as +4 home underdogs just 19 days ago. It’s hard to hold your nose and play the erratic Hawks against the streaking Bulls, but this looks like a spot that will reward the contrarian player.

Bet Atlanta Hawks +4′ over Chicago Bulls