NBA Betting – Hawks Become Prey for Curry, Warriors
By Zack Garrison in News
Updated: January 17, 2018 at 9:39 am ESTPublished:
Atlanta Hawks at Golden State Warriors (-10, 220 o/u)
The dream season of the Golden State Warriors (53-5, 24-0 Home) will resume tonight when they host the Atlanta Hawks (33-27, 14-15 Away) at ORACLE Arena in Oakland (10:30 PM Eastern).
Last year, the Hawks gave the Warriors a run for best overall record in the NBA. But some roster turnover and regression to the mean have the Hawks on a much slower pace this year.
“The mean” doesn’t seem to be a word in Steph Curry’s vocabulary. The reigning NBA MVP is coming off what is perhaps the most insane performance of his already mind-boggling career, scoring 46 points and hitting 12 triples in a 121-118 overtime victory over Oklahoma City on Saturday. A 37-foot three-pointer for the win was the cherry on top of his sensational sundae.
Curry is now averaging 43.8 points per game over the last four and has the Warriors riding another five-game win-streak, which has kept the team 3.5 games up on San Antonio in the West.
Atlanta is riding its own mini, two-game win-streak, relying on tenacious defensive efforts to down the Bulls (103-88) and Hornets (87-76). The back-to-back wins have the Hawks fifth in the East and a half back of Miami for first in the Southeast Division.
After keeping their squad intact at the trade deadline, Atlanta got a true team performance against the Hornets. Five players scored in double-figures and Kent Bazemore led the team with just 14 points.
Turnovers were the one area of concern on the night with Atlanta committing 17 turnovers while generating just seven. They can’t afford to give the Warriors any extra possessions tonight, let alone ten. Golden State is averaging over 115 PPG. The Hawks haven’t hit that number in ten straight games.
The Hawks have had their share of trouble with the Warriors of late – like the rest of the league – going 1-7 straight–up in the last ten head-to-head. Golden State has also taken five of the last six ATS against Atlanta at Oracle Arena.
Another trend of note: the Warriors are 28-9-2 ATS in their last 39 games playing on two-days’ rest.
With Curry playing at an all-time high, ten points doesn’t look like too many to lay.
Pick: Warriors (-10).
(Photo credit: Keith Allison (flickr) “Stephen Curry” [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/]. Photo has been cropped.)
Sports Writer
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
