Hawks vs. Nets Prediction and Odds for Friday, December 9th (Trae Young vs. Kyrie Irving Mercurial Guards Anyone?)
By Josh Yourish
Do you like mercurial point guards? How about NBA superstars that don’t show up half the time? If you said yes, then this game is for you. Trae Young vs. Kyrie Irving will be an exciting showdown if both guys actually make it to the arena in Brooklyn tonight. The Atlanta Hawks are 13-12, but it feels a lot worse than that this year, as they still can’t build on their Eastern Conference Finals appearance from two years ago.
Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets seem to be cruising along at 14-12, considering the disaster that they could’ve been.
This is a big one in the Eastern Conference as all the teams in the middle look to sort themselves out and climb to the top. Let’s see what Vegas thinks about it.
Hawks vs. Nets Odds, Spread and Total
Hawks vs. Nets Prediction and Pick
The Atlanta Hawks were a mess last game, Trae Young and Nate McMillen are certainly not on the same page, and the tension is palpable. They’ve lost their last two games with Young on the court after he sat out on December 2nd with an injury and didn’t even show up to the game. Against the Knicks on Wednesday, Young went 9/20 for 19 points and was 0/4 from three. As a team, the Hawks were 6/36 from deep, 16.7%. Even with Young being hailed as one of the best shooters in the league, this team is second to last in the NBA in three-point percentage.
The offense is not reliable for the Hawks and with Deandre Hunter out, they won’t have a real answer for Kevin Durant, who has been unbelievable. KD had 28, eight assists, and 9 rebounds, in their last win over Charlotte, and this year he’s averaging 29.8, 5.5 assists, and 6.7 rebounds. Kyrie has also been playing pretty well and had 33 last game.
I can’t imagine the Hawks are having much fun playing with Trae Young right now, and I do think that matters a lot. They’re shooting the ball poorly, and maybe they’ll hit more shots tonight and get some shooting regression, because they aren’t as bad as 16.7%, but I think Brooklyn will run them off the floor.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.