Atlanta Hawks vs. Philadelphia 76ers Game 1 Prediction, Playoff Odds
The big storyline surrounding Game 1 of the Atlanta Hawks vs. Philadelphia 76ers Eastern Conference second-round series is the injury status of Philadelphia superstar Joel Embiid. The Sixers are 2.5-point home favourites to win on the NBA odds for the opener Sunday with a total of 220.5.
Hawks vs. 76ers NBA Playoff Odds
This series is going to be overshadowed in the East by the star-studded matchup between the No. 2 seed Brooklyn Nets and No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks on the other half of the bracket. Barring injury, this writer does tend to believe the Nets-Bucks series winner will take the East, and oddsmakers agree: Brooklyn is a -154 favourite to win the East Conference with Milwaukee at +250, Philadelphia at +450 and Atlanta +1400.
The top-seeded 76ers are -208 on this series line with the No. 5 Hawks at +160. The favoured exact result is Philadelphia in seven at +350. Interestingly, Sixers in five is favoured (+375) over in six (+400). On the “when will series finish prop,” both Game 6 and 7 are +200 favourites.
It’s the first playoff meeting between the franchises since way back in 1982. Philadelphia was 2-1 vs. Atlanta this regular season and 2-0 at home. The Hawks are 1-5 against the spread in their past six in Philly.
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks fired coach Lloyd Pierce on March 1 and replaced him with veteran coach Nate McMillan. Since then, Atlanta has been one of the best teams in the NBA with a 31-12 record, including playoffs. McMillan’s teams haven’t had much playoff success in his career though, going 21-37 overall. The Hawks beat the fourth-seeded Knicks in five games in Round 1. The last three weren’t close.
Trae Young became public villain No. 1 in New York with his antics, and he was great in the series, averaging 29.2 points and 9.8 assists per game. He hit the winning runner in the lane in the final seconds of Game 1. Clint Capela had a big series, too, averaging 10.0 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. He led the NBA in rebounding during the regular season at 14.3 per game. Atlanta hasn’t had the services of 2019 lottery pick Cam Reddish (11.2 ppg in regular season) since Feb. 21 due to injury, but he might return for Game 1 of this series. The Hawks are 6-1 ATS in their past seven overall.
Philadelphia 76ers
Will Embiid play in Game 1? He has been arguably the most dominant force in the NBA this season when healthy, but he suffered a small meniscus tear in his right knee early in Game 4 of the first-round series vs. Washington. The Sixers lost that game but won Game 5 back at home to eliminate the Wizards.
Embiid, an NBA MVP finalist (Denver’s Nikola Jokic will likely win it), averaged 19.7 points and 8.0 rebounds in three games vs. Atlanta this season, way down from his overall numbers. However, consider that each game was somewhat of a blowout so he only averaged 24.3 minutes. The Sixers are 30-6 this season with their full starting lineup of Embiid, Ben Simmons, former Raptor Danny Green, Seth Curry and Tobias Harris, and one of those losses was that Game 4 vs. the Wizards when Embiid left after one quarter. The Sixers are 3-8-1 ATS in their past 12 vs. teams with a winning record.
This writer believes the Sixers cover Game 1 if Embiid plays, but lose outright if he doesn’t. We don’t think he plays.
ATL
PHI