How about a little NBA action for your Saturday? To kick off the weekend, the Toronto Raptors will meet up with the Atlanta Hawks for some Eastern Conference action! Join us for our NBA odds series, where our Raptors-Hawks prediction and pick will be revealed.
As for the Raptors, Toronto has found themselves streaking after garnering back-to-back wins against the Pistons and Heat. While it hasn’t always been picture-perfect so far, the Raptors have a tremendous opportunity in front of them to start clicking only 16 games into the NBA season.
Now sitting with a record of 9-7 on the year, Atlanta wants nothing more to get the bad taste out of their mouths after coming up short-handed to the Boston Celtics by a score of 126-101. Regardless, Trae Young and the Hawks will get another shot to get the job done at State Farm Arena. Thus far, the Hawks are 5-3 in front of their home fans and also find themselves in second place within the Atlantic Division.
Here are the Raptors-Hawks NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NBA Odds: Raptors-Hawks Odds
Toronto Raptors: +5.5 (-112)
Atlanta Hawks: -5.5 (-108)
Over: 225 (-110)
Under: 225 (-110)
Why The Raptors Could Cover The Spread
While there are a few reasons that the Raptors could end up covering the spread today versus the Hawks, the biggest difference maker in this one is the fact that the up-and-coming small forward in OG Anunoby is starting to really hit his stride in the early going of what should be a promising NBA career. In his last outing against the Heat, Anunoby popped for 32 points on an extremely efficient 72% shooting from the floor. At the moment, Anunoby leads Toronto in scoring at 18.3 points per game and should be a big factor in helping the Raptors to a spread-covering win.
In addition, past history has been far too kind to the Raptors whenever they have faced off with the Hawks. In fact, Toronto defeated Atlanta in three of four meetings a year ago and was also able to come out on top in the teams’ first meeting of the season back on Halloween. Using their dominance over the Hawks to their advantage in preparation for this Saturday showdown, the Raptors must find a way to eliminate second chances on the glass and get the edge in the rebounding department as a whole. In their win against Miami, Toronto did an excellent job in out-rebounding the Heat 42-23. Expect more of the same if the raptors are going to cover in this one.
Why The Hawks Could Cover The Spread
Believe it or not, but the Hawks are only two years removed from making a run in the 2020-2021 postseason that saw them march all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals before faltering to the eventual NBA champions in the Milwaukee Bucks. Following that up with a disappointing first-round exit in last year’s postseason, there is no question that the Hawks are eager to take that next step as an organization in 2022-2023.
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With that being said, the Hawks’ approach will have to be on a game-to-game basis, especially versus a Raptors squad that has had their numbers of late. In order to get that losing monkey off their backs when facing off with Toronto and even cover the spread in doing so, it is vital for Atlanta to find other playmakers step up that aren’t named Trae Young. While Young was his usual fabulous self with 28 points in the loss to Boston, the Hawks fell behind the eight-ball early with only 18 points in the opening quarter. As a whole, Atlanta has struggled mightily shooting-wise as they are in the bottom half of the league in field-goal percentage and three-point shooting.
Outside of stringing together a more improved shooting performance, it is extremely important for the Hawks to take advantage of Raptors power forward Pascal Siakam remaining sidelined with a right abductor strain. Not to mention, the Raptors will be without Otto Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., and Chris Boucher as well. With that being said, be on the lookout for the Hawks to exploit the shorthanded Raptors in transition. With Atlanta loving to get out and run, the Hawks could have a big advantage on the fast break.
Final Raptors-Hawks Prediction & Pick
Despite the Raptors winning in their previous two outings, it will be the Hawks on their home floor that gets the job done and finally overcomes their struggles against Toronto.
Final Raptors-Hawks Prediction & Pick: Hawks -5.5 (-108)
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