Nelly’s Wednesday Play-In Knockout 16-8 RUN
- Handicapper
- Nelly's Sports
- League
- NBA
- Competition
- Atlanta Hawks vs Chicago Bulls
- Time
- 04/17/2024 09:49 PM
- Bet Type
- Point Spread
- Pick
-
Atlanta Hawks +3 (-108)
(DraftKings)
- Outcome
- Loss
- Analysis
- The Hawks won in Chicago 113-101 on April 1, although the Bulls won two meetings earlier in the season in competitive games. Atlanta is in a familiar position in the play-in round, winning the #7 position in the play-in game with the Heat a year ago, and winning two games to earn the #8 position in the play-in round two seasons ago, the path that the Hawks will need again this season after finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference standings. The Hawks closed the regular season with six straight losses but there was also not a great incentive down the stretch for the team in terms of positioning while most of Atlanta’s late season foes had something to play for. Atlanta lost by three in Minnesota and in double-overtime against Miami in that late season run for solid performances despite the embarrassing finale in Indianapolis, allowing 157 points. Atlanta also beat Boston twice in March and had late season over the Clippers, Knicks, and Cavaliers, as well as a comfortable win in Chicago with the Bulls never coming within two possessions in the 4th quarter of that game. Atlanta had 15 turnovers in that game but outshot the Bulls and this is a talented roster even if the pairing of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray hasn’t proven to be a success, and likely won’t last past this season. Chicago is likely to be without Ayo Dosunmu tonight who has turned in a productive third season with the team making huge strides in his long range shooting with an over 40 percent 3-point shooting season. This is a team that only got 25 games from Zach LaVine as well as two of the team’s top five scorers may not be on the court tonight. Chicago held on to this #9 position but is just 5-8 in the past 13 games since late March and the past two wins came against Detroit and Washington for meaningless results. Atlanta’s defense did improve late in the season and while Young’s absence helped the cause on that side of the ball, the effort defensively has been much better down the stretch. Contrary to the season results and general assessment, the Hawks have a stronger defensive efficiency than the Bulls since late March. Chicago is a losing S/U team at home this season while just 18-22-1 ATS in Chicago and while the Hawks were one of the league’s worst ATS performers on the road this season, the ceiling for Atlanta remains higher and this should be a motivated group in these circumstances.
Thank you for playing with Nelly’s and Best of Luck.
