Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks – D’Antoni is a Smart Man

NBA Basketball Sports Betting

Atlanta Hawks (34-26 SU, 32-28 ATS) at New York Knicks (24-35 SU, 33-26 ATS)

Wednesday, March 4

BetOnline NBA Betting Odds:  PICK’EM, Total 214

Here are some of the NBA betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• ATL has covered four of its last five games
• ATL has lost four of its last six games SU
• ATL has played four of its last five games UNDER the total
• ATL has covered two of its last six road games
• ATL has lost four of its last six road games SU
• ATL has played four of its last six road games UNDER the total
• NY has lost four of its last five games SU
• NY has covered one of its last five games
• NY has played 13 of its last 15 games OVER the total
• NY has covered two of its last six home games
• NY has played eight of its last nine home games OVER the total

Also…

• NY has covered six of the last eight meetings
• ATL has won five of the last six meetings SU
• Four of the last five meetings have gone OVER the total
• NY has covered seven of the last ten meetings as the home team
• NY has won 16 of the last 19 meetings SU as the home team
• Four of the last five meetings in New York have gone OVER the total
• ATL has had the shooting edge in six of the last seven meetings

The story for the Knicks lately has been the play of Larry Hughes. After starting out slowly in his first few games in a Knick uniform, the 6’5" Hughes, who was not satisfied with coming off the bench in Chicago, did exactly that five days ago against Philadelphia, scoring 25 points in what was a New York loss. Then he started against Miami last time out and tallied 19 points. In these last two games, Hughes has hit seven of 13 shots from beyond the three-point arc. After production like that, Hughes, who has also made the NBA All-Defensive team a couple of times, looks like he’s a good fit as the starter at the #2 guard, and thus averts what has been characterized by some as an "attitude problem."

He is just another piece in the puzzle as Mike D’Antoni continues to build a team that can not only make a playoff run now, but works well in his system into the future. Most of it is about offense, of course, and there are few players who can provide instant offense like Nate Robinson can. The diminutive guard had 29 points against Miami on Saturday, meaning that he has now averaged over 29 points over his last nine games, and in all of those games but one he has come off the bench.

The Knicks have some ground to cover in the playoff race. They are eleven games under .500 and three games behind the Milwaukee Bucks, who are currently occupying the eighth spot in the East. Atlanta has pulled out two and a half games in front of the Miami Heat in the #4 position in the East. They have defensive shortcomings, to be sure, but D’Antoni is not going to let this team lose its confidence. They’re more rested, having had three days off, and they have been making a lot of threes (39 in the last three games, in fact). They have some technical advantages over the Hawks in this series, winning 16 of the last 19 in the Garden. In this pick’em situation in the BetOnline Sportsbook, they are the preferred side here.

JAY’S PLAY:  NEW YORK pick
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

(Charles Jay makes his share of shots from the top of the key as a contributor to the BetOnline Locker Room)