Spread and Score Predictions: Denver Nuggets vs Atlanta Hawks
After being double-digit underdogs on Thursday vs Dallas, the Hawks will be double-digit underdogs tonight when they face the defending champion Denver Nuggets. The Hawks are battling to jump the Chicago Bulls for the No. 9 spot in the Eastern Conference and they enter into tonight's game one game behind the Bulls for that spot. With only five games remaining, there is not much time left for them to make a big move and pass the Bulls and a win here tonight, while difficult, would be huge for the team.
The Hawks are going to have to have a better result on the offensive end tonight if they want to have a chance at upsetting the Nuggets. The Hawks were able to only score 38 points in the second half of their loss and the defense for Atlanta played well in their loss to Dallas.
Dejounte Murray has been great for the Hawks with Trae Young out, but he was unable to find a groove vs the Mavs. He scored 16 points on 6-17 shooting Thursday and he will have to face a really strong Denver defense tonight.
It was a tale of two halves for Bogdan Bogdanovic on Thursday. He did not score in the first half, but he scored 17 in the second half and wound up leading the Hawks in scoring for the game. Bogdanovic has been playing great, but he has also had to play a lot of minutes as a starter.
De'Andre Hunter has been up and down in terms of scoring, but he has been playing really good defense as of late. Hunter did a great job of guarding Luka Doncic when he was on the floor tonight and he will likely face a matchup with Michael Porter Jr tonight. Hunter will need to shoot better from the floor tonight though. He can be one of the Hawks's best offensive weapons when he is playing well.
Jalen Johnson recorded his first triple-double on Wednesday vs the Pistons, but he had trouble scoring on Thursday night vs the Mavericks. He had six points on 3-12 shooting, but he did pull in 16 rebounds. I expect a big bounce-back game from him tonight.
Clint Capela and Bruno Fernando will get the minutes at center tonight. Capela had six points and 13 rebounds on Thursday vs the Mavericks and played well on defense. Capela will have his hands full tonight guarding Nikola Jokic.
Garrison Matthews, Vit Krejci, Fernando, and Kobe Bufkin will be the Hawks bench unit tonight. Matthews had a solid first half vs Dallas, scoring 14 points, but could not keep it up in the second half. Krejci has had a quiet two games since scoring 18 points on Monday vs Chicago, while Bufkin had one of his best games as a Hawks, scoring nine points and playing really good defense on Kyrie Irving.
Viewing and Betting Information
Tip-off time: 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Location: Ball Arena, Denver, Co
Where to Watch: NBA League Pass, Bally Sports Southeast
Spread and Over/Under: The Hawks will be big underdogs on the road tonight, as they are currently 11.5 point underdogs according to the latest odds from the Ceasars Sportsbook and the over/under is set at 221.5.
Predictions:
Once again, the Hawks are in a tough spot. Not only do they have something to play for tonight, so do the Nuggets, who are trying to capture the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Coming off of a loss to the Clippers, Denver needs to win down the stretch if they want to have homecourt for the Western Conference playoffs and possibly in the Finals if the Celtics go down. If Jamal Murray plays tonight, this is going to be a tough game for Atlanta and when the Nuggets want to, they can hit a different gear than almost anyone in the NBA. Nuggets win and cover tonight.
Final Score: Nuggets 124, Hawks 110 (Denver -11.5 and the over)
