After what we saw in Game 1, the Atlanta Hawks are going to have to be far more disciplined if they want to have a chance in this playoff series. On Sunday, we saw a dominating Miami Heat performance as they ended up with a 115-91 win. The game was rarely ever close in the second half. Miami stepped up and played like a top seed in the Eastern Conference while Atlanta was clearly gassed from their play-in tournament games. Could we see Atlanta steal a game on the road?

Hawks vs. Heat NBA Betting Odds

Atlanta is just 5-21 ATS in their last 26 games played on the road when going up against a team with a winning home record on the season. To make matters worse, they are 3-13 ATS in their past 16 matchups when coming off of a straight up loss of double digits. Of note with the total, the Hawks have watched the under cash out in the total throughout their last nine games when they have been listed as the underdog.

Miami is 7-1 ATS in their last eight games overall and 5-1 ATS in their last six games when being labeled as the favorite coming into it. This is a team that has won six out of their last seven games against the spread in Miami when facing the Hawks, so they seem to have Atlanta’s number.

Atlanta Hawks

Clint Capela is still expected to remain sidelined with a knee injury, which continues to be a massive blow for the Hawks defensively. While he scores just 11.1 points per game, his 21.43 PER, which is 22^nd in the NBA, tells a story of how valuable he is. His absence will again be felt.

Luckily, the team saw John Collins return for 21 minutes in Game 1 of this series, putting up 10 points. Regardless of who is able to hit the court for Atlanta in this game, they need more out of Trae Young. The superstar point guard had a miserable day shooting the basketball in the series opener. His final stat line was eight points, six rebounds and four assists. He missed all seven of his three-point attempts and was one-for-12 shooting from the field in total. The Hawks have zero chance of winning this game if he plays like that again.

Miami Heat

Miami took complete advantage of the Hawks horrible defense in Game 1. They were practically getting any three-point shot that they wanted, which was notable by their 47.4 percent shooting from distance on 38 attempts. This team has to continue to ride that wave and focus on getting their guys out behind the three-point line.

Atlanta struggles to defend it and Miami has sharpshooters like Duncan Robinson and P.J. Tucker out there to cash in on their slipups. Not to mention, this team will be at home once again for Game 2. Momentum is on their side and we could see another blowout.

NBA Prediction: Who Will Win Hawks vs. Heat?

HAWKS

Away

109

HEAT

Home

120

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Predictions

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