NBA Picks: Trailblazers vs. Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks might be without one of their top players, but that hasn’t stopped from putting together an impressive winning streak. Tonight they go for a season-high fourth victory when they host the Portland Trailblazers at Phillips Arena. Game time is set for 8 PM ET.

NBA odds makers opened with Atlanta favored by -1.5 points with the total at 185. Early NBA betting action has lovered the total to 183.5 at most sportsbooks as of now, and the number could possiblt fall lower. The Hawks have taken five straight from the Blazers.

Portland (8-5 SU, 7-5-1 ATS) is coming off an 84-77 win in New Orleans on Monday. Forward LaMarcus Aldridge led the Trailblazers with 22 points while Nicolas Batum added 19. It was the Blazers first win on their five-game road trip which started with a 16-point loss in San Antonio and a two-point setback in Houston. It’s a crucial trip for Portland, who has lost five of its six road games this season. 

Atlanta (10-4 SU, 7-7 ATS) lost Al Horford for at least three months after he tore his left pectoral muscle in last Wednesday’s 96-84 loss at Indiana. To their credit, the Hawks have kept rolling without their All-Star center thanks to Joe Johnson and Josh Smith who have picked up their respective games. The two combined for 55 points, and Smith had 15 rebounds as Atlanta ran its home record to 6-1 with a 93-84 win over Toronto. The Hawks' only home loss came to Miami in triple overtime on Jan. 5.

Since Horford went down, the Hawks have outscored opponents by nearly 14 points per game with Johnson averaging 25.0 points in the last three games, which is 8.3 more than he posted in his first 11, while Smith is averaging 22 points per game and 12 rebounds.

Jeff Teague has also stepped up this season. The former Wake Forest standout is averaging 16.3 points and 7.6 assists during the three-game run. He scored 24 points in the last meeting against Portland, a 91-82 home win on March 12. 

The Hawks have taken five straight from the Blazers (8-5), while Johnson has scored 24.4 points per game over that stretch. His average of 21.1 points versus Portland is his second highest against any opponent.

P.S. Horford underwent successful surgery on Tuesday and is expected to be out from three-to-four months.

Skid stopped

Portland is feeling better about things after dropping the first two stops in their six-game road trip, and they are hoping that Aldridge, who leads the team in scoring at 22.7 points per game and averaging 7.9 rebounds per contest, can keep it going against Atlanta.

In addition to trying to slow down Aldridge, the Hawks will need to keep tabs on Batum who has been on fire from 3-point range. Batum has connected on 8 of 12 from beyond the arc will scoring a combined 48 points in his past two games.

Jamal Crawford, who averaged 16.1 points off the bench for Atlanta over the previous two seasons, will be making his first appearance in Atlanta as a visitor. He’s been struggling of late, shooting 22.6 percent with a combined 21 points in the past three games.

Trends

Portland is 2-8 ATS in its last 10 road games but can take heart knowing that the underdog in this series is 10-3 ATS in the last 13 meetings. The road team is also 11-4 vs. the number in the last 15 meetings.

The ‘under’ is 1-5 in the Trailblazers last six games while the Hawks have seen the ‘over’ play to a  5-2-1 in mark in its last eight games.

Harvey’s Take: This will be Portland’s fourth game in five nights and it’s definitely one of those ‘play against’ spots you’ll encounter this season. It’s the Hawks tonight by a bunch. I’m also taking a close look at the ‘under’.

Good luck!