NBA Playoff Betting -- Hawks-Bucks Game 3: Atlanta Needs Balance...... Big Time

  • In Charles Jay
  • Sun, Jun 27th, 2021 12:27:41 pm
  • By Charles Jay - Exclusive to OSGA


The Atlanta Hawks, having gotten a split on the road, return home in Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals against the Milwaukee Bucks.


The Atlanta Hawks went into a nosedive early in Friday night's Game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals. And after being down 32 points to the Milwaukee Bucks at the end of the first half, it was, for all intents and purposes, the end of the game.

Now what do they do? Well, maybe there's some relief in their return to the State Farm Arena for Game 3, which begins at 8:35 PM ET on Sunday.

BetOnline customers are overjoyed by the fact that they can find dozens and dozens of props - hundreds of them, in fact - in addition to live betting on each of these NBA playoff games.

And these are the odds that have been placed on Game 3:

Milwaukee Bucks -4.5
Atlanta Hawks +4.5

Over 224 points -115
Under 224 points -105

One of the things that really killed the Hawks in Game 2 was that Trae Young was smothered and allowed his game to get out of control. Young made only six field goals, and turned the ball over eight times in the first half alone.

Since Young consistently has a huge "Usage" rate, which indicates his direct involvement with his team's possessions (46.8% on Game 1, 42.1% in Game 2), so if he is off the mark, that will affect the entire team's offensive effort.

And remember that the Bucks are similar to the Atlanta's previous playoff opponent, the Philadelphia 76ers, in that they have three players who have been named to the NBA's All-Defensive team - Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez. The difference here is that Holiday is close in size to Young and thus can at least hope to keep up with him on the floor.

In the 125-91 blowout, Atlanta shot just 25% from three-point range, and that does not present a glittering picture, because they shot just 25% in Game 1 as well.

As the point guard, Young's dilemma is that he is hard-pressed to find other viable scoring outlets. Bogdan Bogdanovic has been a virtual no-show, with just two triples. And it is unfortunate that he is battling a sore knee. John Collins, the 6-10 forward, has been something of a bright spot, hitting 64% from the floor.

That's not to say the Hawks are the only team that has been having offensive difficulties. Milwaukee would like to be able to count upon Khris Middleton, but the shooting slump he exhibited for most of the Brooklyn series has resurfaced, as he is not only 33.3% from the field (12 of 36), but has made just two of 16 shots from beyond the three-point line.

Let's not forget that two seasons ago, Middleton got very close to being a rare 50/40/90 man (50% from the field, 40% from the arc, 90% from the line).

So you could look at it two ways - he has not performed all that well against the Hawks, but if he returns to form he provides Milwaukee with a much more balanced look, which Atlanta can't really match at this point. For example, after Young's 42.1% Usage rate, the next among the Hawks' starters in Game 2 was Kevin Huerter's 18.9.

On the other hand, the Bucks were led by Giannis, who had a Usage rate of 29.0. But there were two others in the 20s - Holiday and Middleton.

Laying points with the Bucks here, however, is kind of risky. Rather, we might point to the total. We expected that these teams would right themselves from long range, which would drive this thing over the total. But defense appears to have the edge, so we would lean toward the "under" on this one.

You can count on BetOnline to afford you more betting options than anyone else when it comes to the NBA playoffs. Take a look at the player props and you'll see that you can wager on just about anything..... And then you can place real-time bets as well ("Live Betting"), making the whole experience even more exciting...... Make your deposits with Bitcoin and get into the action quickly, and don't forget that when you do, Odds Boosters will give you come delicious payouts on pre-selected parlays!


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