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Atlanta Hawks @ Dallas Mavericks
Saturday, January 29, 2011 at 8:30 pm EST on NBA TV
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This Saturday night the Atlanta Hawks will be looking for a win on the road to try and keep pace in the very competitive Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference. They take on the Dallas Mavericks, who are midst of a heated battle of their own in the Southwest Division in the West.
Tip-off from the American Airlines Center in Dallas is set for 8:30 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on NBA TV.
Atlanta had won eight of its last 10 games heading into Friday night’s contest with New York. Recently, it posted a 103-87 victory over Charlotte last Saturday as a three-point road underdog followed by a 98-90 loss to Milwaukee as a two-point road favorite on Wednesday. The Hawks are 29-17 straight-up for the year, but just 21-25 against the spread. They are 2 ½ games in back of Miami in the division and are tied with Orlando for fourth-place in the conference.
Atlanta has six players averaging in double-figures led by Joe Johnson’s 19.6 points per game. Al Horford is the second leading scorer with an average of 16.3 points and leads the team in rebounds per game with 9.7 while Josh Smith is averaging 15.9 points and is second in rebounds with an average of 8.8.
The Hawks averaging 97 points per game and ranked ninth in the league in points allowed; giving up an average of 95.22. They are shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from three-point range. Atlanta is ranked in the bottom third of the league in rebounding with an average of 40.2 a game, but are holding their opponents to an average of just 41.
Dallas has been in San Antonio’s rear-view mirror in the Southwest for most of the season and currently trails the streaking Spurs by 8 ½ games in the division. However, the Mavericks have done a great job keeping themselves in the thick of the conference standings with an overall record of 29-15 SU (22-21-2 ATS).
It has been a rough go lately for Dallas with seven losses in its last 10 games, but it is coming off a 112-105 win over the LA Clippers and a 111-106 win over Houston as a 6 ½-point home favorite in both games.
The Mavs will continue to go as far as Dirk Nowitzki will take them as he leads the team in scoring with 23.1 points per game and is averaging 6.9 rebounds. Jason Terry is the second leading scorer with 15.6 points and once again Jason Kidd leads in assists with an average of 8.4 a game, but this team has missed the production of Caron Butler, who went down with a knee injury on New Year’s Day.
Dallas’s 46.5 shooting percentage is ranked ninth in the NBA, but it is only averaging 97 points a game. Defensively, the Mavs are ranked seventh in points allowed; giving up an average of 94.6 a game. They match up well with the Hawks underneath the boards with an average of just over 40 rebounds a game.
Atlanta is 4-2 ATS in its last six games on the road but just 2-5 ATS in its last seven games overall. The total has stayed ‘under’ in three of its last five games.
Dallas is 2-2 ATS in its last four home games and 2-8 ATS in its last 10 games overall. The total has gone ‘over’ in four of its last six games.
Head-to-head, the Mavericks have won four of the last six games SU including a 98-93 victory in late December as a three-point road underdog, but the Hawks are 3-2 ATS in the last five. The total stayed ‘under’ the 192 point line in their last game and has stayed ‘under’ in five of the last six meetings.
Dallas should open as a mild home favorite this time around making them a good pick if the line is at three points or less. Anything higher would swing things back into the Hawks’ favor given how closely these teams are matched.
The odds makers have the Dallas Mavericks as a -4.5 point favorite with an over/under of 189.5.
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My bet is on big Mavericks,yeah!