The NBA playoffs continue on Monday with Game 2 between the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks at 8:00 pm ET on NBC. New York, the third seed in the Eastern Conference, is looking to take complete control of the series after winning the opener 113-102 on Saturday evening inside Madison Square Garden.
Let’s dive into my Hawks vs. Knicks Game 2 prediction.
Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks odds
Money line: Hawks +188 / Knicks -220
Spread: Hawks +5.5 (-110) / Knicks -5.5 (-110)
Total: Over 216.5 (-106) / Under 216.5 (-114)
Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks best bet: Over 216.5 (-106)
Atlanta will surely try its best to turn this into a fast-paced transition game, because a half-court style certainly didn’t work out for the visitors in Game. Still, there would have been more than 215 points scored if the Hawks had not been held to a mere 19 in the third quarter. Aside from that drought, both teams scored on a relatively consistent basis this past weekend.
There are other reasons to think that Monday’s contest will be higher scoring. Atlanta attempted just 19 free-throws in the opener and missed seven. Moreover, the Hawks and Knicks combined for a total of 33 bench points, with the reserves shooting a combined 3-for-14 from downtown. That probably isn’t going to happen again.
An undersized Hawks lineup simply has no answer for Knicks forward Karl-Anthony Towns. In two regular-season H2H meetings, KAT averaged 28.5 points per game while shooting 17-for-27 from the field and 5-for-10 from three-point range. In Game 1, Towns went for 25 points on a 6-for-13 effort from the floor, 3-for-4 from the land of plenty, and 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Hawks guard CJ McCollum continues to have a hot hand. Over his last two games, McCollum is 22-for-36 from the field and 10-for-17 from deep for an average of 27.5 ppg.
Nine of the last 13 H2H have produced at least 223 points, including a 253-point barrage in their first matchup this season.
Knicks on Prime is awful, all of us diehard fans that don’t get prime are getting screwed
yep, but Game 2 on NBC
Win Game 2 Atlanta??
unlikely
Hard to see this being much different than game 1, Knicks needed to take care of things and they did, Knicks by at least 10 again and they will score at least 120.
Hawks made a big 4th quarter comeback and barely took it 107-106!
To add we have a series now.