NBA Playoffs - Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers

Most NBA betting fans can't help but think the Atlanta Hawks might be just a bit overmatched after suffering a 27-point loss in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semi-final series. On Thursday night these teams will hook up in Game 2 of the series, scheduled to tip off at 8 PM ET at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

BetUS NBA Odds: CLEVELAND -13, Total 178

Here are some of the NBA sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* ATL has played five of its last six games UNDER the total
* ATL is 1-3-1 ATS in its last five road games
* ATL has lost four of its last five road games SU
* ATL has played its last five road games UNDER the total
* CLEV has own its last five games SU
* CLEV has covered its last nine games
* CLEV has played its last four games UNDER the total
* CLEV has covered its last five home games
* CLEV has won 19 of its last 20 home games SU
* CLEV has played nine of its last 11 home games UNDER the total

Also...

* CLEV has won five of the last six meetings SU
* Four of the last six meetings have gone OVER the total
* CLEV has won the last five meetings SU as the home team
* Fourteen of the last 20 meetings at Cleveland have gone OVER the total
* CLEV has had the shooting edge in five of the last six meetings
* CLEV has had the rebounding edge in eight of the last ten meetings

Atlanta was down by only five points at halftime of Game 1, and it may have looked as if Cleveland was a little flat after having sat out a week following their sweep of the Detroit Pistons. The Hawks proceeded to score just 28 points in the entire second half, however, because the Cavalier defense does not take a night off. Cleveland has allowed less than 77 points per game to its opponents thus far in the playoffs, and they shut down Atlanta to the tune of a 99-72 win that led Joe Johnson, the Hawks' leading scorer, to remark that his team had given up. Sure they did, and Johnson, after a nice effort in game 7 of the series against Miami, had only five field goals and 11 points in 39 minutes, and the bench chipped in exactly ten points.

Atlanta made only nine free throws on Tuesday night. there is no question that they have to make more of an effort to get easier shots and go to the line in this game. However, two things bear mentioning here: first, that Cleveland is good enough on defense to turn almost anyone into a jump-shooting team, and second, Al Horford, who's the guy you'd want to feed in the middle, is limping around on a bad ankle after getting just four points in Game 1. He was held out of a practice session yesterday, and he is a game-time decision for tonight. This leaves Atlanta in bad shape from that perspective.

Sure, LeBron James had 34 points and ten rebounds, but he is going to have those kind of numbers on many nights. This Atlanta team has to get better effort, and Mike Woodson yelling at his club like he did afetr Game 1 is not going to do it. This club played like it was just happy to in the second round, and content to go back to the Phillips Arena to win games, just as it did last season against Boston. Do you remember last year's series against the #1 seed? The Hawks lost by margins of 23, 19, 25 and 34 points at Boston. I can see the same scenario here.

We'll lay the points with Cleveland, the 13-point favorite in this game.

Por pick: Cleveland -13

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