WE’RE ready for another fun day in the NBA as we look to keep a good week going here at the PlayBook.
Let’s take a look at today’s best bet;
Atlanta Hawks @ Golden State Warriors
The Warriors will look to continue their hot start to the season when they welcome last season’s Eastern Conference finalists, Atlanta Hawks, to the Chase Center.
The home team have certainly been impressive to start the season but they’ve also been the beneficiary of a very favourable schedule in the opening few weeks of the season.
Despite having a soft schedule this still sets up to be a tricky spot for the team who are playing the second of a back-to-back, and their third game in just four nights.
While most of their starters were able to manage their workloads yesterday against an inferior Houston team there’s certainly a fatigue factor that needs to be accounted for on them home team.
Atlanta meanwhile has had the polar opposite luck in terms of early season scheduling. They’ve faced just one team outside the projected playoff picture (New Orleans) and are currently in the midst of a tough west coast road trip.
This game sets up to be a buy-low spot on the Hawks though, who are arguably the more talented roster and should be rated as favourites on a neutral court.
A lot of the Warriors metrics are inflated by the fact they’ve faced so many bottom-tier teams so far. If Atlanta is able to force Golden State to play in half court sets against their defence they should find some level of success in limiting the damage they can do offensively.
On the flip side, we should see Atlanta be able to run effective offensive sets given some of the mismatches they have available on the court.
The availability of John Collins is important for us here but his status has been upgraded to ‘probable’ and the assumption is that he will take the floor tonight.
My number on this game is closer to a -1.5 for the home team so grab the extra points on the Hawks who will help us see a truer reflection of who the Warriors are this season.
Our best bet: Atlanta Hawks +3.5
