Hornets vs Hawks Odds, Spread and Picks

• The Hornets face the Hawks in the NBA Play-In Tournament on Wednesday
• The winner of this game will face the Cavs for the No. 8 seed in the playoffs
• Read on for odds, spread, preview, and betting prediction

It’s win or go home on Wednesday as the No. 10 seed Charlotte Hornets face the No. 9 seed Atlanta Hawks in the NBA Play-In Tournament. The tip-off is set for 7pm ET at State Farm Arena.

The Hornets finished the season hot, winning three in a row. They most recently blew out the Washington Wizards on Sunday, with LaMelo Ball showing out for 25 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. The Hawks also snatched a victory in game 82 and went 7-3 to close out the campaign.

These two teams both won a pair of games apiece in their four meetings in 2021/22. The public betting trends on this game have the majority of the money on the game skewed towards Atlanta.

Hornets vs Hawks Odds

Odds as of April 12th at FanDuel.

The Hawks are a 5-point favorite here and have won four straight contests on their home floor.

Charlotte Betting Analysis

There were high expectations for the Hornets this season. Although LaMelo Ball elevated his play in Year Two while the likes of Terry Rozier and Miles Bridges also played extremely well, their 23rd ranked defense proved to be a glaring weakness.

Now, Charlotte heads into Wednesday in the exact same spot as the 2021 Play-In, where they got blown out by the Indiana Pacers.

📍 Touched down in the ATL. #AllFly pic.twitter.com/y16zR6sGg6

— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) April 12, 2022

Ball is the catalyst during their current winning streak, averaging nearly 25 points per game. James Borrego’s squad couldn’t have ended the regular season on a better note either, putting on an offensive clinic vs Washington.

Rozier and LaMelo combined for 49 points while the Hornets shot a blistering 54% from downtown and dished out 34 assists, much in part to their second-year guard’s special ability to create.

In fact, Charlotte is first in the Association in dimes and sits in the top-10 in three-point attempts and makes. Their ball movement is fantastic and it results in lots of good looks.

The Hornets’ efficiency from downtown will play a massive part in Wednesday’s outcome because Atlanta is poor at defending the perimeter, allowing their opponents to shoot it at a 36.4% clip.

Underwhelming Campaign For Hawks

After making a heroic run to the Eastern Conference finals where they ultimately fell short against the Milwaukee Bucks, this season certainly didn’t go to plan for Atlanta.

The squad was under .500 for most of the season but went 14-8 since the start of March to fight their way into a Play-In berth.

24 hours until tip ⏳ pic.twitter.com/wkuSjIogv9

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) April 12, 2022

Just like the Hornets, Nate McMillan’s group heavily relies on their ability to make it rain from deep, shooting the triple at a 37.4% clip. That comes down to Trae Young’s high-level playmaking where he finds the likes of Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kevin Huerter, and John Collins a ton of open shots.

Trae himself is coming off a tremendous campaign as well, averaging 28.4 points, 9.7 dimes, and 3.7 assists while shooting nearly 40% from long range.

Trae Young vs Steph Curry Playoff Career Averages Comparison

Trae Young
28.8 PPG
9.5 AST
2.8 REB
41.8 3P%

Steph Curry
26.5 PPG
6.3 AST
5.4 REB
40.1 3P%

Trae has only played in 16 such games while Steph has played in 112 games, both perform very well come playoff time pic.twitter.com/M7sIyJnrm8

— TraeMuse (@IceTraeMuse) April 4, 2022

We all know what Young did in the playoffs last year, single-handedly destroying the Knicks before picking apart the Sixers in the conference semis. The former Oklahoma standout is made for the big stage, putting up 28.8 points and 9.5 assists in 16 career postseason outings. He’ll undoubtedly be a huge factor in this contest from a scoring and facilitating standpoint.

Hornets vs Hawks Prediction

It’s essentially going to be LaMelo against Trae here but to be honest, I do think the latter will win the battle. The Hawks already have crucial playoff experience from 2021 and thrive at State Farm Arena, compiling a 27-14 record. Also, Atlanta took down Charlotte by a combined 32 points in their two wins in the regular season. They’ll cover.

Pick: Hawks -5 (-106)