Last Updated on April 17, 2010 10:00 am by drew
Hawks-Bucks Pick
The Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks aren’t expected to win the 2010 NBA Championship but the two begin their road to doing just that on Saturday when they open their first round series.
Bet the 2010 NBA Playoffs
The Hawks are the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference while the Bucks are the No. 6 seed.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SPORTSBETTING.com have made Atlanta the favorites to win the series with a money line of -900 while the Bucks have a line of +550.
In three meetings this season, Atlanta has won two of the three. The Hawks shot 52 percent in two of the contests and pulled down 55 or more rebounds in the two victories.
Atlanta is 53-29 on the season and 34-7 at home, but the Hawks were just 19-22 on the road. Against the East, Atlanta was 32-20. The Hawks score 101.7 points per-game on offense and give up 97 points per-game on defense. Joe Johnson leads the Hawks with 21.3 points and 4.9 assists per-game. Al Horford adds 14.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per-game while Jamal Crawford scores 18 points per-game and Josh Smith scores 15.7 points per-game for Atlanta.
Milwaukee is 46-36 this season and 28-13 at home but 18-23 on the road. The Bucks were 31-21 against Eastern Conference opponents. Milwaukee has injury issues coming in as Andrew Bogut is out the rest of the season with an elbow injury. Bogut averaged 15.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per-game. Milwaukee scores 97.7 points per-game on offense while giving up just 96 points per-game defensively. John Salmons leads the Bucks with 19.9 points per-game while Brandon Jennings scores 15.5 points per-game and dishes out 5. assists per-game.
Atlanta looks to be a team on the cusp of contending for the conference title while the Bucks are too young and are now without one of their top players. Atlanta has too much for the Bucks to handle. This series could go six or seven games because of Atlanta’s struggles on the road, but ultimately, the Hawks should reach the second round.
Our NBA Playoff Series Free Pick for this matchup is: ATLANTA -900
NBA Playoffs Betting Trends
ATLANTA is 47-34 ATS (+9.6 Units) in all games this season.
ATLANTA is 36-26 ATS (+7.4 Units) as a favorite this season.
ATLANTA is 25-16 ATS (+7.4 Units) in home games this season.
ATLANTA is 19-10 ATS (+8.0 Units) after a win by 10 points or more this season.
MILWAUKEE is 51-28 ATS (+20.2 Units) in all games this season.
MILWAUKEE is 24-14 ATS (+8.6 Units) as an underdog this season.
MILWAUKEE is 27-12 ATS (+13.8 Units) in road games this season.
MILWAUKEE is 24-10 ATS (+13.0 Units) second half of the season this season.
MILWAUKEE is 14-5 ATS (+8.5 Units) on Saturday games this season.
MILWAUKEE is 12-3 ATS (+8.7 Units) revenging a home loss vs opponent this season.
MILWAUKEE is 26-14 ATS (+10.6 Units) revenging a loss vs opponent this season.
MILWAUKEE is 12-4 ATS (+7.6 Units) after a win by 10 points or more this season.
MILWAUKEE is 14-3 ATS (+10.7 Units) after scoring 105 points or more this season.
MILWAUKEE is 23-14 ATS (+7.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
MILWAUKEE is 14-6 ATS (+7.4 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record – 2nd half of the season this season.
MILWAUKEE is 26-17 ATS (+7.3 Units) versus good offensive teams – scoring 99+ points/game this season.
MILWAUKEE is 16-6 ATS (+9.4 Units) versus good offensive teams – scoring 99+ points/game – 2nd half of the season this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
ATLANTA is 6-5 against the spread versus MILWAUKEE over the last 3 seasons
ATLANTA is 7-4 straight up against MILWAUKEE over the last 3 seasons
8 of 10 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
NBA Playoffs Injury Report
MILWAUKEE
[G] 01/11/2010 – Michael Redd out for season ( Knee )
[C] 04/11/2010 – Andrew Bogut out for season ( Elbow )
ATLANTA
[C] 04/09/2010 – Jason Collins out for season ( Foot )
NBA Playoffs Series Odds
Atlanta Hawks -900
Milwaukee Bucks +550
Hawks vs. Bucks Series Schedule:
Saturday, April 17 at Atlanta, 5:30 p.m. on ESPN
Tuesday, April 20 at Atlanta, 7 p.m. on NBATV
Saturday, April 24 at Milwaukee, 7 p.m. on ESPN
Monday, April 26 at Milwaukee, TBA
*TBA at Atlanta
*TBA at Milwaukee
*TBA at Atlanta
*If Necessary
Bet the 2010 NBA Playoffs
Posted: 4/17/10 10:00AM ET