Free NBA Pick: Heat vs. Hawks NBA Odds
Looking for Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks free NBA picks & NBA odds? NBA betting sees the Heat taking on the Hawks on Friday, April 22nd, 2021 at State Farm Arena. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NBA basketball matchups so stay tuned for more FREE daily NBA hoops predictions like this Heat Hawks matchup.
2022 NBA Playoffs Handicapping Round 1
(2-0) Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks (0-2)
Date: Friday, April 22nd
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Venue: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
NBA Moneyline Odds: Heat -113 | Hawks +113 (Bet Now!)
NBA Betting Odds: Heat -1.5
NBA Betting Total: 221.5
Game three between the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks and top East seed Miami Heat shifts to State Farm Arena and tips off Friday, April 22nd. Miami leads the series 2-0 with wins in the opening game (115-91) and Game 2 (115-105).
Miami won the 2021-22 regular-season series 3-1 with victories on January 12th (115-91), January 14th (124-118), and April 8th (113-108) while the Hawks won the January 21st (110-108) match.
The Heat holds the all-time record having bested the Hawks in 73 of their 130 matches. This is the third time the clubs are meeting in the postseason with Atlanta winning both prior series 3-2 in 1994 and 4-3 in 2009.
Miami Heat
Jimmy Butler dealt with injuries much of the season leading to him missing 25 games which will likely keep him off the All-NBA teams.
When his team was going through a late-season struggle and he got into it with head coach Erik Spoelstra and Udonis Haslem many wondered if the Butler who had issues in Chicago and Minnesota would derail his current team.
Instead, that little mix-up seemed to fix what was ailing the Heat who finished the season winning six of their final seven games and took a stranglehold 2-0 lead in this series.
Butler delivered in Game 2 with a career-best 45 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals, and when the Hawks pulled within three points late went on a personal 7-0 run to put his team comfortably up by 10.
He was extremely efficient as well getting to the line for 12 free throws missing only one, hitting four of his seven 3-pointers, and was 15 of 25 overall.
The Heat needed every single point Butler offered as only three other players reached double-digits including Tyler Herro (15) and Gabe Vincent (11) off the bench as well as starter Max Strus (14).
Gabe Vincent (toe) is probable, while several Heat players are questionable for Friday including Bam Adebayo (quad), PJ Tucker (calf), Markieff Morris (hip), and Caleb Martin (ankle).
Atlanta Hawks
Recognizing they would need to be much more aggressive defensively Nate McMillan had his youngsters invested on both sides of the court but that led to early foul trouble for De’Andre Hunter, Kevin Huerter and Bogdan Bogdanovic who each had three personal fouls by the half.
Bogdanovic led the Hawks with 29 points connecting on half (5 of 10) of his 3-pointers. While Trae Young was more productive than his Game 1 effort of eight points scoring 25 he was also under constant defensive attention which led to more turnovers (10) than assists (7).
John Collins served up a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds while De’Andre Hunter offered 16 points.
Lou Williams (back) was downgraded to out Friday while Capella (knee) is out indefinitely.
NBA Betting Trends:
- Miami is 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games.
- Atlanta is 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games.
- Miami is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games against Atlanta.
- The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Atlanta’s last 9 games.
- The Heat are 10-2-1 ATS in their last 13 road games.
- The Hawks are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a home underdog.
Free Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks NBA Prediction:
Turnovers have been a key through the first two matches with the Hawks coughing up the ball 18 and 19 times in Games 1 and 2 leading to 17 and 21 Heat points.
Still, there are ample positives for McMillan to pull from as the Hawks head home for the next two games. Atlanta improved in Game 2 winning the rebounding battle (40-34) even without Clint Capella as well as scoring in the paint (46-38).
In contrast, Miami is taking those Hawks turnovers and turning them into fast-break points while focusing on their perimeter defense – an area Atlanta typically excels in but shot 27.8% (10 – 36) in Game 1 and 30% (12 – 40) in Game 2.
For the Hawks to get back into this series they’ll need to defend without fouling, rediscover their 3-point prowess and STOP turning the ball over.
I’m not sure, any team can ignore defense for more than half of the season and simply flip a switch which is why I’m picking the Heat to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: Heat ATS
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