The 44-38 Atlanta Hawks will be the road team in Game 1 of their best of seven NBA playoff series with the Indiana Pacers in a pro basketball game on Sunday afternoon. Tip off time from Indiana is scheduled for 1PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by TNT.
The pro basketball odds from this NBA playoff game has the home team Indiana Pacers favored by -6 ½ points with an over under line of 184 ½ points. There has been no line movement in this NBA playoff contest since the odds were released a few hours ago.
The Hawks and Pacers met four times this season with each team winning straight up in their home games. Each team covered the spread once at home and once on the highway. Both games played at Indiana went over the total.
Atlanta has a road record of 19-22 on the season. The team was in the hunt for the fourth seed and home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs but drop five of their past seven games to fall to a six seed in the Eastern conference. The Hawks were a good shooting team on offense this season ranking seventh in the league in field goal and three point shooting. They average 97 points a game but are 26th and fifth worst in the NBA in free throw shooting as they connect on just 71.5% from the charity stripe. Atlanta has been very inconsistent on the defensive end of the court. They are the third worst team in the league defending the three point shot on the year by giving up 37.9% from beyond the arc.
The Pacers are 30-11 playing on their home court on the current campaign. Indiana was chasing the New York Knicks for the number two seed but lands in the three seed after losing five of their past six games. A critical loss came on April 14th in a 90-80 defeat at the Knicks. The defense came a bit unglued for Indiana down the stretch as the team surrendered 104 points or greater in five of their past eight games. The season numbers reveal the Indiana Pacers a lower third team in all three key areas of points per game as well as field goal and three point shooting. The team averages just 94.7 points a game ranking 23rd in the league. Indiana earned their number three seed on defense. The team is second in the NBA in scoring defense by allowing 90.7 points a game. Indiana is the best team in the league defending field goals and three point shots.
