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Free NBA Pick: Hawks vs. Blazers NBA Odds
Looking for Atlanta Hawks vs. Portland Trail Blazers free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Hawks taking on the Blazers on Monday, January 3rd, 2022 at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions like this Hawks Blazers matchup.
2022 NBA Handicapping
(16-19) Atlanta Hawks vs. Portland Trail Blazers (13-22)
Date: Monday, January 3rd,
Time: 10:00 PM EST
Venue: Bankers Moda Center, Portland, Oregon
NBA Moneyline Odds: Hawks -200| Blazers +188 (Bet Now!)
NBA Betting Odds: Hawks -5
NBA Betting Total: 226.5
Monday, January 3rd, finds the Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers facing each other for the first time this season and will play once more this season with Atlanta hosting on March 14th.
Both teams last played on Friday with the Hawks delivering a 121-118 winning effort versus the Cavaliers while the Blazers got smoked 106-139 by the Lakers.
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks have real issues that need to be solved quickly if they intend on participating let alone making a run in the postseason. This feels very much like the typical ‘buy your own hype’ team.
The Hawks have their glorious offense but seemed to think they should just be allowed to get away with fouling opposing teams without penalty and worse that they shouldn’t have to put in the defensive effort.
Trae Young is an offensive savant but more often than not he doesn’t try to even pretend on defense. That puts pressure on his court mates.
Last season Nate McMillan got Young to understand if he shared the ball a bit more, shot a bit less personally, and made an effort defensively it would go a long way to his team buying into him as the leader. The results were palpable.
That seems to have gone out the window as Young is back to taking more shots and not even trying to pretend he will defend. It’s common to watch a game with him yelling at a teammate for them not covering his man on defense.
You don’t need thought bubbles to read the Hawks’ body language. Young’s teammates are annoyed that he expects them to make him look good but isn’t willing to make an effort to help on defense.
There are 11 Hawks in protocols several upgraded to probable for Monday including Danilo Gallinari and Kevin Huerter while John Collins and Bogdan Bogdanovic are among the group downgraded as out.
Portland Trail Blazers
Similarly to the Hawks the Blazers aren’t performing up to expectations and if you buy what head coach Chauncey Billups is selling it’s tied to the effort of the club particularly on the intangible 50-50 plays.
It certainly hasn’t helped that Damian Lillard hasn’t been 100 percent healthy or they’ve been missing CJ McCollum for 11 games due to the punctured lung.
Although we’ve seen very little about his situation I wonder if the franchise is being overly cautious about bringing him back in fear of what contracting omicron could do to someone who had a recent lung injury.
In the loss to the Lakers, Ben McLemore led the scoring with 28 points while Lillard (18), Larry Nance (13), and Norman Powell (12) were the other double-figure scorers.
The Blazers have lost fpur in a row and 11 of 13 but won’t have Lillard in the lineup on Monday (abdominal). Of the group in protocols Robert Covington is probable but Jusuf Nurkic and Cody Zeller are doubtful. Anfernee Simons, Keljin Blevins, and Trendon Watford are questionable.
NBA Betting Trends:
- The Hawks are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games.
- The Blazers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games.
- The total has gone OVER in 6 of Atlanta’s last 6 games against a Western opponent
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Portland’s last 5 games played in January.
Free Atlanta Hawks vs. Portland Trail Blazers NBA Prediction:
While the Hawks rank third offensively (112.6) they rank 25th defensively (112.3) whereas the Blazers haven’t found a niche on either side of the hardwood ranking 16th on offense (109.4) and a league-worst 30th on defense (114.3).
Both teams are hampered by protocols but without Lillard or McCollum this could get ugly quickly.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: Hawks -5
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