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 Sunday, April 24th, 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
(2-1) Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks (1-2)
Date: Sunday, April 24th
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Venue: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
NBA Moneyline Odds: Heat -122 | Hawks +117 (Bet Now!)
NBA Betting Odds: Heat -2
NBA Betting Total: 221
Game four between the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks and top East seed Miami Heat tips off Sunday, April 24th. Miami leads the series 2-1 with wins in the opening game (115-91) and Game 2 (115-105) while the Hawks took a nailbiter 111-110 in Game 3.
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
Watching Game 3 of this series the Heat lead felt very comfortable for the majority of the game but a hamstring injury to Kyle Lowry can be pointed to as the main shift in the game and the Hawks coming back from a double-digit deficit.
Although the Heat have been among the best clubs at utilizing the next man up philosophy throughout the season, the playoffs are a different beast.
Although Lowry isn’t providing the same offensive output he did with the Raptors his veteran leadership has been most evident by how he runs the team and his defense.
Lowry was the main defender on the Hawks star Trae Young who was struggling in those minutes. Specifcally, Lowry had guarded Young for 42 possessions with Young only attempting shots on 14 and scoring a meager 13 points.
Miami also struggles without Lowry on the court as they outscore the Hawks by 27.8 points when he’s on the hardwood (per 100 possessions) but are outscored by 20.4 points (per 100 possessions) when he sits.
Heading into Game 4, Lowry is listed as questionable so Spoelstra will likely lean to Gabe Vincent filling in to keep the reserve unit with Herro intact. Keep an eye for the series debut of Victor Oladipo as well who may get the tap specifically to offer defense on Young.
Bam Adebayo (quad), PJ Tucker (calf), Caleb Martin (ankle) and Gabe Vincent (toe) are probable, while Lowry (hamstring) is questionable for Sunday.
Atlanta Hawks
Learning from the two losses in Miami the Hawks took much better care of the ball and limited their turnovers to 11 after coughing it up 18 and 19 times in the first two matches.
They also broke through on the perimeter having shot 27.8% (10 – 36) in Game 1 and 30% (12 – 40) in Game 2 back in the warm confines of State Farm arena they shot 37.5% (12 of 32).
Six Hawks scored in double figures with Trae Young leading the way offering 24 points. Bogdan Bogdanovic (18), De’Andre Hunter (17), Kevin Huerter (13), Delon Wright (13), and Danilo Gallinari (11) were the other doube-digit contributors.
The x-factors in this game however were Wright who was seemingly everywhere on defense and Onyeka Okongwu who was a beast in the paint. Wright led his team in plus/minus (+23) in a match where only half the Hawks registered in the positive.
Lou Williams (back) was downgraded to out Sunday while Capella (knee) is out indefinitely.
NBA Betting Trends:
- Miami is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games.
- Atlanta is 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games.
- Miami is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games against Atlanta.
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Atlanta’s last 5 games.
- The Heat are 10-3-1 ATS in their last 14 road games.
- The Hawks are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games as a home underdog.
Free Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks NBA Prediction:
With 9:06 remaining in the Game 3 the Heat led by 14 points but Atlanta narrowed the lead to three point by clutch time. Herro missed four shot attempts seemingly rushing his shots, turned the ball over and looked uncomfortable with the extra pressure on him.
Butler who can be hot or cold as the primary scorer was the latter but the lesson learned moving forward, especially if Lowry can’t go is to put the ball in Butler’s hand and let him run the offense so the Heat protects the ball, manage the clock and get a good shot.
Although the Hawks play markedly better at home, the Heat are also significantly better defensively so if Lowry can’t go expect Spo to make the proper defensive adjustment and figure out another plan to limit Young’s playmaking and scoring.
Miami will need to be cognizant of the whistle, however, as the officials gave most of the underdogs a decided advantage at the line on Saturday and if they follow suit on Sunday the Heat will need to adjust their typically aggressive defensive style.
Based on the latter equation, I’m expecting a close game that comes down to the wire.
4* Free NBA Betting Pick: Hawks +2
If you’re looking for more NBA picks like this Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks matchup we’ll be providing 4* free NBA predictions on the blog during the entire NBA season, and check out our Experts for guaranteed premium & free NBA predictions!
Register here for a FREE NBA Betting Account Now for Daily Free Picks & More Special Offers!