The No. 8 Brooklyn Nets ( 2-2 SU, 4-0 ATS ) seek a third straight win and a series lead over the No. 1 Atlanta Hawks ( 2-2 SU, 0-4 ATS ) when the teams meet Wednesday in Game Five of their first-round series. You can watch the game live on TNT.
The 22-game difference in the regular season standings between the top-seeded Hawks and the No. 8 seed Nets means nothing now that their first round playoff series is a best-of-three competition. Brooklyn took care of its homecourt with a pair of victories, getting even with a 120-115 overtime win Monday. The Nets still need a road win to take the series and they’ve failed in four attempts in Atlanta this season.
In a tighter than anticipated series it doesn’t matter now that the Hawks won the first six meetings between the teams. What matters now is that the Hawks head home where they’ve won 24 of 27 including the first two in this series. Atlanta comes in as a 9-point favorite but has failed to cover in every game going 0-4 ATS in the series.
KEY INJURY
Hawks forward Al Horford, who dislocated the pinkie finger on his right hand in the series opener, re-injured the finger Monday and left the game briefly to get his hand taped. He returned and scored 17 points in the game.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“I think we’ve been rallying around each other the last month or so. Definitely the guys rallied around me and it means a lot. It just shows we’re definitely coming together as a unit. It’s just taken longer that we thought, but it’s happening.” – Nets guard Deron Williams
BETTING TRENDS
- Brooklyn is 5-0 ATS in its last five games overall.
- Atlanta is 0-6-1 in its last seven games overall.
- The UNDER is 4-1 in Atlanta’s last five home games.
KEY STATS
22.2: Atlanta’s Kyle Korver, who shot 49.2 percent from three-point range during the regular season, is shooting 22.2 percent over the last two series games.
35: Nets guard Deron Williams scored a playoff career-high 35 points Monday on a postseason career-high tying seven three-pointers.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
A funny thing happened to the Brooklyn Nets on their way to being a first-round playoff warm-up for the No. 1 seed Hawks. They played inspired ball in the first two games but came away with a pair of losses and easily could’ve packed it in with no one giving them a chance. But the Nets held serve by winning both games at home and have looked like the more poised and determined team. Deron Williams was on fire Monday scoring a playoff career-high 35 points leading the Nets to the series tying win after being a non-factor in the first three games.
The Hawks are familiar with the situation of being an underdog eight-seed with no pressure. A year ago Atlanta was the playoff upstart, the nothing-to-lose No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs that gave No. 1 Indiana all it wanted in the first round before falling in seven games. Hopefully they learned from that experience. The Hawks have been in cruise control for so long they seemingly forgot that the playoffs have started, but they do have homecourt advantage, which for them is a big advantage.
Atlanta was so good during the regular year you almost expect them to just flip a switch and return to the efficient offensive style that got them the No. 1 seed. But the Nets have played a harassing defense that’s forced the Hawks into an unusually high number of turnovers and a poor shooting percentage. Brook Lopez has owned Al Horford giving the Nets a big advantage down low and Kyle Korver has struggled on his usual pin-point accuracy from distance. It might be time for the Hawks to abandon the nine-man rotation and stick with the guys who do a bulk of the work; if they do their chances of getting a win increase.
Atlanta 108, Brooklyn 101
The NBA lines for this contest will first be released by BookMaker sportsbook. Minute-by-minute spreads, totals and props are available for this game using the live betting platform at BookMaker.
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks square off on Wednesday, April 29, 2015, at 7 p.m. ET at Philips Arena. The contest will be broadcast nationally on TNT.
