Hawks vs Hornets Picks and Odds

• The Atlanta Hawks are two-point road favorites over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday 
• The Hawks have won five of their last six games overall and eight of their last 12 on the road
• The odds for Hawks-Hornets along with analysis and a pick can be found below

Two teams jockeying for home-floor advantage in the first round of the playoffs meet when the Charlotte Hornets host the Atlanta Hawks at 1pm ET Sunday at the Spectrum Center.

The Hornets are fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 27-24 record and the Hawks are fifth at 28-25. The top four finishers open the postseason at home.

The Hawks have won five of their last six games overall and eight of their last 12 on the road. The Hornets come in off back-to-back wins.

Hawks vs Hornets Odds

Odds as of April 10 

Young Gives Hawks Boost

Trae Young’s 42 points and nine assists led the Hawks to a 120-108 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls on Friday night as 2.5-point favorites.

It was Young’s second-highest scoring output of the season and his fourth game with at least 40 points. The Hawks needed all the points Young could muster as Zach LaVine scored 50 for the Bulls.

.@TheTraeYoung has 16 40-point contests in his career. ❄️

He ties LeBron James for the third-most by a player in his first three seasons since '76-77 (Michael Jordan 44, Shaquille O’Neal 19).#ULTRAMoment | @MichelobULTRA pic.twitter.com/JQ9J5pHKht

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) April 11, 2021

Clint Capela and Danilo Gallinari combined for 42 points after sitting out the Hawks’ previous game, a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. Capela had Achilles’ soreness and Gallinari had an ankle injury.

Capela scored 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. It was his 34th double-double of the season. Gallinari added 20 points off the bench.

The Hawks shot 56% (47-of-84) from the field despite connecting on just 7-of-27 (25.9%) attempts from three-point range.

TONY SNELL CALLED GAME 🔥 pic.twitter.com/h8P8f2D9ir

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 12, 2021

While Capela and Gallinari returned to action, reserve guard Tony Snell sprained his right ankle and will miss Sunday’s game.

The Hawks are also without John Collins (left ankle sprain), Cam Reddish (right Achilles’ soreness) and De’Andre Hunter (right knee soreness).

Hornets Take Advantage

All five starters scored at least 18 points Friday to lead the Hornets to a 127-119 road victory over the depleted Milwaukee Bucks as three-point favorites. The Bucks were missing all five starters because of injury and the Hornets finished a 4-2 road trip.

Miles Bridges’ season-high 26 points topped the Hornets. It was his fifth game of 20 or more points this year.

.@MilesBridges pulled up from East Trade Street 🎯👌#AllFly | @HornetsOnBally pic.twitter.com/p5T1I5gYwT

— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) April 10, 2021

Devonte Graham and Terry Rozier scored 20 points apiece. Graham made 6-of-12 shots from beyond the arc and had three steals.

Jalen McDaniels finished with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. That performance came after McDaniels scored a career-best 21 points Wednesday night in a win over the Thunder at Oklahoma City.

PJ Washington added 18 points. Cody Zeller notched his sixth double with 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Hornets held a 49-35 edge on the boards.

PJ WASHINGTON OVER KD 👀 pic.twitter.com/HxoykEs7o3

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 28, 2020

Like the Hawks, the Hornets have injury issues. They are missing three key players in LaMelo Bell (broken right wrist), Gordon Hayward (sprained right foot) and Malik Monk (sprained right ankle).

Hornets Pull Two Upsets

The teams played twice in a four-day span earlier this season and the Hornets pulled upsets in both. Charlotte won 102-94 on Jan. 6 at Atlanta as a 6-point underdog, then 113-105 at home as a 5-point dog.

Much of the Hornets’ success against the Hawks came from stopping Young, who is 14th in the NBA with a 25.1 scoring average. He had 22 points combined in the two losses.

Hayward scored 44 points for the Hornets in the first matchup while Collins finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks. Charlotte shot just 37.6% (32-of-85). The Hawks were slightly worse at 37.5% (36-of-96).

In the second game, Rozier topped the Hornets with 23 points and Washington had 22 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots. Cam Reddish scored 21 points off the bench for the Hawks, who shot 38.2% (34-of-89).

It is hard to imagine the Hornets shutting Young down three times in a row, though, especially with how well the Hawks have been playing lately.

Pick: Hawks -2 (-114)

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