{"id":42908,"date":"2019-02-25T15:31:49","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T20:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/?p=42908"},"modified":"2019-02-25T15:31:49","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T20:31:49","slug":"nba-league-pass-picks-atlanta-hawks-at-houston-rockets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/nba-league-pass-picks-atlanta-hawks-at-houston-rockets-42908\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA League Pass Picks: Atlanta Hawks at Houston Rockets"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Atlanta at Houston<\/b><\/p>\n

Time: 7 PM CT (NBA LP)<\/b><\/p>\n

Spread: HOU -11<\/b><\/p>\n

Total: 231.5<\/b><\/p>\n

Odds c\/o 5dimes<\/b><\/p>\n

HOU TEAM NOTES:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Though the Rockets have struggled this season, the team has won five\u00a0 <\/span>of its last 10 overall and still is situated No. 5 in the Western Conference. <\/span><\/p>\n

The team lost Trevor Ariza over the offseason, hoping that replacing him with Carmelo Anthony would solve its problems. It did none of that, and the team has taken many steps back defensively, which ultimately is the reason it has failed to succeed at the rate it did a year ago. Houston is surrendering 111.1 points per game and scoring 113.2 itself, which yields just a 2.1 positive, point differential.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rockets must tighten up its defense significantly to rejoin the realm of Western Conference contenders, which many are\u00a0feeling can still happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clint <\/span>Capela had been making a strong bid to be an All-Star and it is easy to see why Houston felt comfortable releasing Dwight Howard to clear the way for Capela.<\/span><\/p>\n

Truth be told, he has a little of young Dwight, in him and his game. Capela averages 17.6 points, 12.9 rebounds and 1.88 blocks per game while posting the second-best PER on the Rockets. He has proven to be the anchor of a defense that greatly needs perimeter improvement, and it is hardly all the fault of Harden as the narrative often goes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harden is playing passing lanes well, coming up with 2-plus steals a game, while heading the offensive attack in his usual masterful way. Harden\u2019s averaging 33.9 points and 8.6 assists per game.<\/span><\/p>\n

ATL<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The Atlanta Hawks have lost three of its last four and have fallen to 20-40 on the season. It still trails the Orlando Magic to get out of the Southeast Division cellar, but the future is bright in \u201cHotlanta.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Trae Young has blossomed well in his rookie season, and John Collins is quietly having an outstanding second year in the league. That duo, along with Taurean Prince, represents the key pieces of the Hawks\u2019 young core, which truthfully is one of the better in the league once the rest of the roster fills out. The Hawks will hope to land Zion Williamson in the 2019 NBA draft, which would really put the icing on its frontcourt in combining Williamson with Collins, who is a phenomenal athlete in his own right. The Hawks could become a very exciting team based on the transitional talents of Young and Collins, but the roster is definitely still in progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

After Collins, Young, and Prince, the Hawks lineup is a lot dicier and filled with a number of players deficient in scoring skills. Dewayne Dedmon and Alex Len form something of a two-headed monster at center, but neither has outstanding upside at this point in their respective careers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rookie 2-guard Kevin Huerter has looked strong at times, but his playing time is still somewhat usurped by the ancient Vince Carter, who sees 15 minutes a night in this, his farewell tour through the NBA. The Hawks have put an exciting product on the court finally and are getting some wins, but it still will be a lottery team. That more or less sums up the situation in Atlanta: exciting but struggling. For now.<\/span><\/p>\n

ATS TRENDS (C\/o COVERS):<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
Atlanta<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
    \n
  • Hawks are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 vs. NBA Southwest.<\/li>\n
  • Hawks are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 vs. Western Conference.<\/li>\n
  • Hawks are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game.<\/li>\n
  • Hawks are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games following a ATS win.<\/li>\n
  • Hawks are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.<\/li>\n
  • Hawks are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up win.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
    \n\n\n\n\n
    Houston<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \n
      \n
    • Rockets are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400.<\/li>\n
    • Rockets are 5-11 ATS in their last 16 games overall.<\/li>\n
    • Rockets are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 home games.<\/li>\n
    • Rockets are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games vs. a team with a winning % below .400.<\/li>\n
    • Rockets are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 vs. NBA Southeast.<\/li>\n
    • Rockets are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a losing road record.<\/li>\n
    • Rockets are 2-10 ATS in their last 12 games following a straight up win.<\/li>\n
    • Rockets are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 vs. Eastern Conference.<\/li>\n
    • Rockets are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a losing straight up record.<\/li>\n
    • Rockets are 0-8 ATS in their last 8 games following a ATS win.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Atlanta at Houston Time: 7 PM CT (NBA LP) Spread: HOU -11 Total: 231.5 Odds c\/o 5dimes HOU TEAM NOTES: Though the Rockets have struggled this season, the team has won five\u00a0 of its last 10 overall and still is situated No. 5 in the Western Conference. The team lost Trevor Ariza over the offseason, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40250,"featured_media":37700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1444,133],"tags":[834,831,6679,2189,1985,6516],"class_list":["post-42908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-nba-handicapping","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-houston-rockets","tag-nba-betting-trends","tag-nba-odds","tag-nba-picks","tag-nba-picks-ats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42908"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42909,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42908\/revisions\/42909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}