Joe Johnson’s High Flying Hawks in Charlotte
Atlanta Hawks (28-20 SU, 25-23 ATS) at Charlotte Bobcats (19-29 SU, 28-20 ATS)
BetUS NBA Basketball Betting Odds: CHARLOTTE -3, Total 183.5
Here are some of the NBA pro basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* ATL has lost four of its last six games SU
* ATL has covered two of its last six games * ATL has played four of its last six games UNDER the total
* ATL has covered two of its last six road games
* ATL has lost 15 of its last 21 road games SU
* ATL has played four of its last six road games OVER the total
* CHAR has covered eight of its last 11 games
* CHAR has lost four of its last five games SU
* CHAR has covered its last five home games
* CHAR has won five of its last six home games SU
* CHAR has played four of its last six home games OVER the total
Also…
* CHAR has covered four of the last five meetings
* ATL has won four of the last six meetings SU
* Four of the last five meetings have gone UNDER the total
* CHAR has won and covered the last five meetings as the home team
* ATL has had the shooting edge in five of the last six meetings
* ATL has had the rebounding edge in five of the last eight meetings
Joe Johnson missed the last game against Minnesota with a viral infection. The Hawks managed a way to get along without him as they beat the Timberwolves 94-86 behind 23 points from Marvin Williams. So even though coach Mike Woodson is bemoaning his team’s lack of consistency at the free throw line, Atlanta does have other outlets to turn to when the star goes down.
Curiously, Charlotte, which made some changes to its rotation over the last couple of months, can not seem to replace the scoring leadership of Gerald Wallace, one of the original Bobcats who was the team’s best all-around player, and who will be out for an indefinite time with his collapsed lung and broken rib. In three games they have had to play without Wallace, the ‘Cats have averaged 86 ppg. Adam Morrison has been no kind of replacement for Wallace, and coach Larry Brown is absolutely convinced that he has lost his confidence.
The Bobcats will most likely be welcoming rookie point guard D.J. Augustin back to active duty tonight. He had an abdominal strain and will probably not be anywhere near 100%, and besides, Raymond Felton, who he had in effect been sharing the point position with, has not been playing too badly.
Marvin Williams has been doing some extra board work for the Hawks, averaging over eight rebounds per game over the last seven, but the key guy for Atlanta may be Al Horford, last year’s rookie of the year runner-up who was out a dozen games with a knee injury, then scored four points in limited action against Minnesota, How much more can he contribute with that game and a practice under his belt?
Since losing Wallace in last Tuesday’s game against the Lakers, Charlotte has lost by margins of 14, 11 and 19 points to Portland, Denver and Utah, respectively. I don’t know that there is any assurance they will suddenly find a magic pill just because they’re returning home (where they are 13-13 SU), and I don’t want to lay any points with them right now. It’s the Hawks plus three points in the BetUS Sportsbook NBA pro basketball sports betting odds.
