The wait is over. The NBA postseason starts today. The Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat are kicking off the Play-In tournament tonight in a matchup in the East. This is the first of two games tonight, and ThePicks shows now a preview of this game, also bringing the injury report, odds and predictions.
After fighting for a playoff spot until the end of the regular season, the Miami Heat ended up in the #7 seed in the East, which means they will have to go through the Play-In Tournament. They had a 44-38 record and are coming from a win in the last game.
On the other side, the Atlanta Hawks had a 41-41 record and finished the season with the #8 seed, tied with the Toronto Raptors. However, they are coming from two straight losses in the end of the regular season and if they want to advance to the playoffs they have to win tonight.
By the rules, the winner of tonight’s game goes directly to the playoffs as the #7 overall seed in the conference. The loser still has another shot by facing the winner of the #9 vs #10 seeds matchup, in tomorrow’s game.
Injury Report
Neither team have big problems for tonight’s game. In fact, the Atlanta Hawks don’t have a single injured player. Meanwhile, the Miami Heat has three problems. Nikola Jović (back) is out of the game. Max Strus (finger) and Kyle Lowry (knee) are in a day-to-day situation. Strus is listed as “probable” and Lowry as “questionable”.
Bets
Playing at home and having a better record during the regular season, the Miami Heat are the favourites tonight by 5 points. Meanwhile, having one of the “lowest scoring” teams on average in the league (Miami Heat), the over/under is only at 228 points.
Speaking of player prop bets, there are also some good lines. Atlanta’s Clint Capela to have more than 10.5 rebounds in the game (he averaged 11 in the regular season) have 1.95 odds. Trae Young to have more than 9.5 assists is paying 2.30 (he averaged 10.2 in the regular season) and is also a good option. Check out some of the best predictions for the game:
- ATL Hawks +5.0
- Over 228.0 points
- Clint Capela over 10.5 rebounds
- Trae Young over 9.5 assists
- ATL Hawks over 111.5 points
Game details
- Venue: Kaseya Center, Miami
- Time: 7:30 PM (ET)
- Broadcast: TNT
