Atlanta (43-39) at Cleveland (44-38)
When: Friday, April 15th, 2022
Where: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse,
Cleveland, OH
Time: 7:30 ET | TV: ESPN
Opening Odds: Atlanta -1.5/226.5
The final spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs comes down to one game this Friday night, as the Atlanta Hawks visit the Cleveland Cavaliers. The winner of Friday’s play-in game will earn the eighth seed in the East and face the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs beginning Sunday. The Hawks blew out Charlotte 132-103 at home in their first play-in game on Wednesday, but are just 16-25 outside of Atlanta. However, they have covered the spread in each of their last six contests as a favorite, with the Over cashing in five of them. The Hawks were in control the entire game on Wednesday and outscored the Hornets 42-24 in the third quarter to really put it out of reach.
The Cavaliers had a chance to clinch the seventh seed on Tuesday, but fell to Brooklyn 115-108. Cleveland got off to a horrible start in trailing by 20 points after just one quarter. Cleveland outscored Brooklyn 88-75 the rest of the way, but by then it was too late. Nets guard Kyrie Irving made his first 12 shots from the field, finishing with 34 points and 12 assists. Cleveland finished with a 25-16 record at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse this season and were 42-37-3 ATS overall. The Cavs are hoping to have All-Star center Jarrett Allen back in the lineup to face the Hawks. The big man has been out since March 6 with a broken left middle finger, with Cleveland going 7-12 in that span. The Hawks won all three meetings this season including a 131-107 triumph in Atlanta on March 31.
The Hawks have now won eight of their last 11 games including Wednesday’s dominant win over Charlotte. Guard Trae Young had a slow start, but finished strong with 24 points and 11 assists. De’Andre Hunter added 22 points, while Danilo Gallinari had 18. Clint Capela had a double-double of 15 points and 17 boards. All five Atlanta starters finished the game with double-digit points. Young is averaging a team-high 28.4 points per game and is third in the NBA with 9.7 assists. He became just the second player in NBA history to lead the league in total points (2,155) and total assists (737). John Collins (foot, finger), who hasn’t played since March 11, has reportedly stepped up workouts but is not likely to play on Friday. Lou Williams (back) is questionable to play after missing the last four games.
There were some encouraging signs in the loss to Brooklyn on Tuesday. Cleveland never gave up and actually ended up covering the 9.5-point spread. Darius Garland led the way for Cleveland, finishing with 34 points and five assists. Rookie Evan Mobley had 19 points and seven rebounds, while Kevin Love contributed 14 points and 13 rebounds. The Cavs could really use Allen on Friday, who averaged 16.1 points a game. Garland is averaging team-highs in points (21.7), assists (8.6) and steals (1.3), while Mobley is averaging 15.0 points and a team-best 8.2 boards and 1.7 blocks.
The Hawks obviously looked more impressive than Cleveland, but look who they played. The Hornets are not a good team, while the Cavs had to deal with a potential NBA Finals team in Brooklyn. It’s possible Allen plays for Cleveland and that would be huge. Either way, I like Cleveland at home, because Atlanta was really bad on the road.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free NBA Picks page for today.
Pick: Cavaliers +2
