The Denver Nuggets play host to the Atlanta Hawks at the Ball Arena on Sunday night.
The Atlanta Hawks have been in red-hot form as they’ve won nine of their past 11 games and they will be looking to stay hot after routing the shorthanded Warriors in a 124-108 road win on Friday. John Collins led the team with 38 points and 12 rebounds on 14 of 19 shooting, Trae Young steered the offense with 21 points and 15 assists while Clint Capela chipped in with a double-double of 18 points with 15 rebounds and three blocks. As a team, the Hawks shot a healthy 54 percent from the field and 13 of 33 from the 3-point line as they set the tone with 70 points in the first half, before cruising in the second half as they methodically picked apart the shorthanded Warriors who were without their best player in Stephen Curry. The only blemish from what was a dominant win was the play of Kevin Huerter who had a night to forget, scoring just five points on one of nine shooting off the bench.
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets have been in great form as they’ve won 10 of their past 13 games and they will be looking to maintain their momentum after outlasting the Pelicans in a 113-108 road win on Friday. Nikola Jokic led the team with 37 points with six rebounds and nine assists on 17 of 30 shooting, Michael Porter Jr. added 25 points, Jamal Murray scored 23 points with 11 assists while Paul Millsap chipped in with 16 points. As a team, the Nuggets shot 50 percent from the field and 14 of 28 from the 3-point line as they struggled to get going and fell behind by as many as 14 points in the first half, before flipping the script in the second half where they outscored the Pelicans by 59-45. The only blemish from the win was that they only got seven points out of their reserves, so it was all about the starters in this one.
Looking at the betting trends, the Hawks are 4-0-1 ATS in their last five games following a win of more than 10 points, 5-1 ATS in their last six games following a win and 6-2 ATS in their last eight games overall. The Nuggets are 2-5 ATS in their last seven home games, 2-5 ATS in their last seven games against a team with a winning record and 1-5 ATS in their last six games following a win.
Head to head, the over is 4-1 in the last five meetings overall, the Hawks are 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings in Denver and the Hawks are 9-2 ATS in the last 11 meetings overall.
The newly acquired Lou Williams has yet to join the Hawks so he will not play on Sunday, while the Nuggets’ newly acquired Aaron Gordon is set to make his debut in this one which is a nice boost for a Nuggets who don’t need any extra help at the moment. Both teams are coming into this one with plenty of momentum, so I’m expecting a close contest with the Nuggets pulling away late to win by single digits.