Atlanta at Cleveland

The Atlanta Hawks are getting no respect, or is it that the Cleveland Cavaliers have now become over-valued over their five straight double-digit playoff wins? The last time these teams met in Cleveland, the Cavs were listed as an eight-point favorite. But Cleveland is so hot right now and this 5-point jump in the line is justified, right? Coming into that last game, the Cavs had won 12 of 13 and were red-hot. Atlanta was coming into that game with a 2-6 road mark in their previous eight road games, with the wins coming against Washington and Sacramento - the two worst teams in the league. Suddenly, this line is up to 13? This line provides value on the dog right off the bat. Atlanta got completely shut down in game one but this team is 16-5 ATS over the past two seasons revenging a loss in which they scored under 85 points. This season they are 14-4 ATS when revenging a double-digit road loss. Atlanta showed in their series with Miami that they are a see-saw team, alternating between terrible and great performances. I look for them to give it their all tonight and surprise a lot of people. I am also going with the OVER here. Round two game two playoff games over the last six years have outscored game one games by 243 points in 24 games. That is 10.1 points per game! The Hawks have produced four of their five lowest totals on the road this season in the playoffs, and they will make a more representative showing tonight with their backs to the wall. This total has dropped from game one and the Hawks can score against this Cavs team. Atlanta scored just 72 points in game one and that's what the public is focusing on. But, in their two other games in Cleveland this year, they got 96 points in each. Also, 18 of last 25 games (72%) between these two teams has resulted in an OVER. I like the Hawks and the OVER.