Atlanta Hawks (41-31) vs. New York Knicks (41-31)
May 23, 2021 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: New York Knicks -1.5; Over/Under: +217
(Get latest betting odds)
The Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks meet Sunday in game one of the NBA East Playoffs at Madison Square Garden.
The Atlanta Hawks enter the playoffs winning seven of their last eight games. The Atlanta Hawks are averaging 113.7 points on 46.8 percent shooting and allowing 111.4 points on 46.3 percent shooting. Trae Young is averaging 25.3 points and 3.9 rebounds while John Collins is averaging 17.6 points and 7.4 rebounds. Bogdan Bogdanovic is the third double-digit scorer and Clint Capela is grabbing 14.3 rebounds. The Atlanta Hawks are shooting 37.3 percent from beyond the arc and 81.2 percent from the free throw line. The Atlanta Hawks are allowing 34.9 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 45.6 rebounds per game.
The New York Knicks enter the playoffs winning 16 of their last 20 games. The New York Knicks are averaging 107 points on 45.6 percent shooting and allowing 104.7 points on 44 percent shooting. Julius Randle is averaging 24.1 points and six assists while RJ Barrett is averaging 17.6 points and 5.8 rebounds. Derrick Rose is the third double-digit scorer and Alec Burks is dishing 2.2 assists. The New York Knicks are shooting 39.2 percent from beyond the arc and 78.4 percent from the free throw line. The New York Knicks are allowing 33.7 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 45.1 rebounds per game.
The Hawks are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 road games and 5-0 ATS in their last 5 Sunday games. The Knicks are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 home games and 35-15-1 ATS in their last 51 games overall. The under is 4-1 in Hawks last 5 Sunday games. The under is 4-1 in Knicks last 5 overall. The Hawks are 1-4 ATS in the last 5 meetings in New York and 0-6-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings.
The Atlanta Hawks are playing some of their best ball of the season right now, which includes winning their last five games by an average of 10 points while shooting 49.6 percent from the field. The New York Knicks finished the regular season as one of the hotter teams in the league and they win at home by an average of 4.1 points and in the favorite role by an average of 9.1 points. You can make a case for either of these teams in this game and this series, but I lean Knicks because of the experience of the roster and the defense. This feels like a series where the Knicks are going to grind and slowdown the younger, more athletic Hawks. Not going to be pretty, but the Knicks will wear on their opponent. I’ll lay the bucket.
