Toronto Raptors at Atlanta Hawks Free NBA Picks & Odds
by Tony Sink - 3/17/2014
Tuesday, March 18, 7:30 PM on NBAt, FSSO
Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here
There's a sneaky good matchup in Atlanta on Tuesday night as the Raptors try to lock up their first Atlantic Division title since 2007 and the Hawks aim to hang on to the 8th playoff seed. It's been a tale of two teams lately as Toronto and Atlanta wind down the season.
The Raptors have been hot straight up and against the spread lately, rewarding their backers in 7 of the last 10 games. A key has been defending their home court as Toronto has gone 6-1 at the Air Canada Centre recently. The Raptors will look to improve on their recent 3-3 road record and win the season series from the Hawks, which currently stands at 1-1.
Atlanta is definitely in a free fall mode at a time of the season when they should be playing their best basketball. The Hawks lost 14 of 15 games from February 4th to March 8th which had a lot of experts wondering how Atlanta could still be holding a playoff spot. The answer proved to be that the rest of the East is not playing good basketball with New York, Cleveland, or Detroit not able to make much of a move during the Hawks' skid.
Atlanta turned it around somewhat with back to back victories after a six game losing skid but those wins came against Utah and Milwaukee. One of those losses on Atlanta's February slide came in Toronto on the 12th, a 104-83 Raptors victory. Toronto had a one point halftime lead but outscored the Hawks 59-39 behind DeMar DeRozan's 31 points to easily cover the -6.5 spread while the total stayed well under the 203.5 number.
ATS Trends
Toronto is 22-10-0 ATS on the road this season
Toronto is 15-17-0 against the over/under on the road this season
Atlanta is 16-14-0 ATS at home this season
Atlanta is 16-14-0 against the over/under at home this season
Injuries to Watch
Toronto
03/10/14 F Patrick Patterson Elbow out indefinitely
Atlanta
12/31/13 G John Jenkins Back out for season
12/27/13 C Al Horford Shoulder out for season
02/21/14 F Gustavo Ayon Shoulder out for season
Tony's Pick: Take Toronto
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