Halloween Night NBA action on a short three game card features the Miami Heat at Atlanta Hawks. These teams met on Tuesday night in Miami with the Heat winning 112-97 and covering as -7.5 home favorites. Much of the line adjustment (or lack thereof) in this game is due to the sprained ankle suffered by Hawks’ guard Trae Young in that game. Young is listed as ‘out indefinitely’ though recent reports suggest that the ankle is improving. The team isn’t going to get a MRI and he could be back as early as next week.
Young notwithstanding, the Hawks are a banged up team. Evan Turner has been ruled out for tonight’s game with a sore Achilles Tendon and is listed as ‘day to day’. Guard Allen Crabbe is out with a knee injury and forward Chandler Parsons is also out. The good news is that De’Andre Hunter has been upgraded to probable for tonight’s game. The Sixers will be without KZ Okpala (day to day), Dion Waiters (day to day( and Derrick Jones, Jr. Justice Winslow and James Johnson are listed as questionable.
The mainstream media is all in a lather about Jimmy Butler who made his Miami debut on Tuesday night. Butler scored 21 points after missing the first three games due to the birth of his daughter. You think maybe this could be a letdown spot for Butler after all of the emotion of the past week? Lost in the Butler love fest was the fact that Tyler Herro led the team in scoring with 29. John Collins took over the offense for Atlanta with Trae Young out pouring in 30.
The Butler hype and the absence of Young is why the Heat are a -6.5 road favorite after being a -7.5 home favorite on Tuesday. One of the first things they teach you in sports handicapping school is to look to play on the team that lost the first game in this type of ‘quick rematch’ scenario. Miami is 3-1 on the season and after winning on Tuesday and knowing that Trae Young is out could be looking ahead to next week when they host Houston on Sunday and then hit the road for games at Denver, Phoenix and in LA against the Lakers. Hawks get five days off after tonight with their next action against the San Antonio Spurs at home. The Heat haven’t handled success well in the past three years–after winning by 10+ points in that stretch they’re 10-21 ATS in the following game.
Atlanta has been very competitive with the Heat in their recent meetings. Miami holds a 5-4 SU edge over the past three seasons but the Hawks have covered 6 of those games going 6-2-1 ATS. At State Farm Arena, they’ve won and covered 3 of the last 4 in the series. Hawks were 4-0 ATS against Miami last season including a pair of SU victories at home as +6.5 and +5.5 underdogs.
