Tonight the Heat and the Hawks will play for the second time in 3 days. The first time these two teams met, Miami solidly smacked Atlanta 112-97. Jimmy Butler played his first game of the season and scored 21 to lead the Heat to victory. This game played tonight will give the Hawks a chance for redemption, but it isn’t likely to happen considering that they’ll be missing their rising superstar.
Miami Heat (3-1) @ Atlanta Hawks (2-2)
Betting Odds by PointsBet: Miami -6.5 Total 216.5
Miami
The Heat have been quite impressive to start the season, jumping out to 2 quick wins before Jimmy Butler even played a game. Miami now has their superstar to pair with some impressive rookie guards, which makes them surprisingly scary to play against this season. Not only that, but Justise Winslow and Bam Adebayo have both improved from last season. The season is still young, but Miami is certainly making a case to be a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference.
- The Heat have an even road record so far this year at 1-1.
- Strong guard play continues to be the driving force for Miami, as rookies Nunn and Herro and veteran Dragic combine to average 8 points per game.
- Jimmy Butler had a great outing in his Heat debut, finishing with 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals on 5-11 shooting.
- Justise Winslow definitely struggled against the Hawks, tallying just 2 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists on 1-7 shooting, although he did collect 2 steals.
- The Heat is a great offensive team, ranking 7th in the league for points at 118 per game and 8th in shooting at 8% per game.
- At the same time, they also struggle massively with turnovers. They lead the league at 21 turnovers per game.
- Miami has covered the point spread in all 4 games they’ve played, including their loss to Minnesota.
Atlanta
The Hawks looked like a real force to start the season, picking up 2 dominant wins behind the brilliance of Trae Young. Like Miami, Atlanta is still a very young team and still has much to learn, which is why they’ve lost the next 2 games since. The Hawks did struggle against both Philadelphia and Miami, two excellent teams that will do well in the Eastern Conference. Rookie play has been fairly weak for the Hawks, but tonight will be another chance for them to play well.
- Trae Young will miss tonight’s game with an ankle sprain. Rookie De’Andre Hunter is probable.
- The Hawks have an even home record at 1-1.
- The golden recipe for the Hawks continues to be Trae Young and John Collins. These two dynamic players are combining for 1 points, 14.3 rebounds, and 9.1 assists on 16-30.3 (52.8%) shooting.
- John Collins was great against the Heat, collecting 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists on 10-17 (58.8%)
- Trae Young did have a rough game against the Heat, finishing with just 5 points and 2 assists on 2-5 (40%) shooting with 2 turnovers before his injury.
- Atlanta is surprisingly great on defense, ranking 8th in opponent points, allowing just 104 points and 3rd in opponent field goal percentage at6%.
- On the other hand, they fail to score the ball well, ranking 25th in the league at 105 points per game.
- The Hawks have covered the point spread in 3 of their 4 games, only failing to do so against Miami.
Pick: Miami Heat -6.5
Considering that the Heat are completely rolling to start the season, its very hard to bet against them right now. They’ve covered the point spread in all 4 of their games so far and are 6.5 point favorites to take this game. Unfortunately for Atlanta, Trae Young is going to miss a week or two with his ankle sprain and won’t be playing here tonight. This is why your best choice is to lay the points tonight by betting on the Miami Heat to win.