The final game of the NBA Play-In Tournament in the Eastern Conference will take place on Friday night between the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland hosts this game after losing their first play-in contest, while the Hawks come into Cleveland flying high after a convincing home win in their play-in debut. In our NBA picks for Friday, we look at Hawks vs Cavaliers in what is sure to be an interesting play-in finale in the East.
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Hawks vs Cavaliers Betting Pick
This game will be played at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse at 7:30 PM ET on Friday, April 15, 2022.
Why Bet The Cavaliers:
✅ The Hawks blew out the Hornets at home in their first play-in game, but they are a vastly worse road team than they are at home. Atlanta is now 28-14 at home this season after beating the Hornets on Wednesday, but they are 16-25 on the road this year. They will continue their trend of dominating at home and floundering on the road here, to the benefit of Cleveland.
✅ The Cavaliers have very similar home/road splits to the Hawks this season, going 19-23 on the road after Wednesday’s loss to the Nets. They are 25-16 at home this year, though, and should be able to take advantage of the struggles of the Hawks on the road. Home teams are 4-0 in the Play-In Tournament so far, and should move to 5-0 here.
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✅ While the Cavaliers lost in the first round of the Play-In Tournament, they showed a ton of fight against the Brooklyn Nets despite falling behind by 20 points in the first quarter of that game. Cleveland not only covered the spread in that game, but cut the Nets’ lead to just a couple of possessions down the stretch. They are not at 100% with Jarrett Allen essentially a coin flip to play in this game, but the Cavs’ grit should keep them in this game throughout.
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks enjoyed an incredible second half to win in their opening game of the Play-In Tournament. They blew out the Charlotte Hornets 132-103, outscoring Charlotte 72-51 in the final two quarters of the game. While the Hawks were efficient offensively, shooting 50% from the field and from three-point range, it was the defense of the Hawks that deserves credit for getting Atlanta through that matchup.
Atlanta held the Hornets to under 40% shooting from the field on Wednesday night, limiting LaMelo Ball to 7/25 shooting. The Hawks will face another young star at the point guard position on Friday in Darius Garland, and will look to hold him in check in similar fashion. But the Hawks are on the road in this game, where they are nine games under .500 for the season.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost their first game in the Play-In Tournament, forcing them into this elimination game at home against the Atlanta Hawks. Cleveland was torched by Kyrie Irving, who made 12 of his 15 field goal attempts to propel the Nets to victory. Here, the Cavaliers will need to prevent Trae Young from having a similar performance to avoid their season ending before the first round of the playoffs.
A huge story for the Cavaliers coming into this game is the status of Jarrett Allen, who has not been ruled out yet with his finger injury. If Allen is able to return, the Cavaliers likely become a favorite in this game, as he completely changes the way the team rebounds the basketball and defends the paint. Without him, the Cavaliers still have a fighting chance, but their road to the first round becomes much more difficult.