Hawks vs Clippers Picks, Predictions & Odds Tonight

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17 March 2024

Hawks vs Clippers Picks, Predictions & Odds Tonight

A fun day of basketball on St. Patrick’s Day wraps up with a battle between two teams down on their luck lately.

The Atlanta Hawks enter on the back of three straight losses while the Los Angeles Clippers — dealing with injuries over the last week — have dropped three of four. Can L.A. come up with a statement win at home?

Let's get right into it with our in-depth preview and free NBA picks for Hawks vs. Clippers on Sunday, March 17.

Hawks vs Clippers odds

Hawks vs Clippers predictions

It’s hard to pick out what the biggest issue with the Atlanta Hawks is at the moment, given their defense has been bad all season long and was the main cause of two of the three losses on this winning streak.

It’s worth noting the defense has been better in March, ranking 12th in the seven games they’ve played, while the offense has been less than stellar with a 15th-ranked 113.7 efficiency rating.

Atlanta has gone up against some great defenses like the Knicks and Cavaliers, but on the whole, their offense should be putting up better numbers given their schedule. A miniscule 105.6 points per 100 possessions against Portland has to be seen as a huge disappointment.

The Los Angeles Clippers have struggled on defense this month, ranking 22nd among all teams, while the offense has been a fraction worse than what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing over the last few months despite still being very solid.

L.A. is still without Russell Westbrook after he broke his hand last week, but the questionable tag aside James Harden’s name here is certainly of greater importance.

On the other side of the ball, though, Atlanta lost Saddiq Bey to a torn ACL two games which is a huge blow to this offense, and has also been playing without Trae Young and Onyeka Okongwu. So, despite the Clippers’ struggles on defense, they should be able to handle Atlanta given all the names missing from the lineup.

Despite the loss of Young in late February, the Hawks have still been opting to take most of their shots from three, and in a stunning turn, their shooting numbers from deep have been spectacular compared to their season-long marks. The downside is they’ve taken many more shots from the mid-range which hasn't been quite as fruitful.

The Clippers’ main weakness on defense has been the 3-point shot and considering the Hawks have been on an absolute heater from deep with 40.7% of their attempts going down, this could be a spot of bother for a team that’s also made a habit of playing down to bad opponents.

I like the Hawks to keep that up and find the offense they need from the 3-point line, and the status of Harden — who has missed the last two games — also makes me like the road dog even more.

My best bet: Hawks +9.5 (-108 at DraftKings)

Hawks vs Clippers same-game parlay

Hawks +9.5

Dejounte Murray 4+ made threes

Clint Capela double-double

Without Young in the lineup, this has been the Dejounte Murray show. Since Atlanta’s lead man went down, Murray has played 37.5 minutes per game and attempted 21.8 shots per game, with nearly 10 of them coming from deep.

He’s responded in a big way and has taken 11.8 shots per game from deep over his last four games, knocking down 44.7% of them and converting 4+ in each of those contests. Against a struggling 3-point defense, I like him to keep it up, particularly now that Bey is missing which should put even more of an onus on him to score the ball.

Then, I'll utilize DraftKings here, a book that allows us to throw a Clint Capela double-double into the mix. He’s on a run of four straight double-doubles and has averaged a double-double since beginning the second half of the season

He's now up against a Clippers team that's not known for its rebounding, and one that ranks 20th in that category in March. He’s also averaged better than 13 points and 13 rebounds in his last 13 clashes against Ivica Zubac.

Best NBA bonuses for Hawks vs Clippers

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Hawks vs Clippers spread and Over/Under analysis

The line movement here has been pretty non-existent although the moneyline has been all over the place, beginning at -500 for the Clippers, getting as heavy as -540, then as short as -420 before settling back around the opening number.

L.A. was initially a 10-point favorite and has been sitting around -9.5 or -10 for the entire betting window.

The story with the total has been very straightforward, on the other hand, with the number opening at 229 and being steadily bet down to 221 where it’s settled on Sunday afternoon.

Despite that, the big money here seems to be on the Clippers with 57% of the tickets coming in on the home favorites and a strong 63% of the handle heading that way. As you might guess, 93% of the handle is on the Under here despite just 55% of the tickets on that side of the total.

Hawks vs Clippers betting trend to know

The Hawks have cashed the first-quarter Under in 26 of their last 39 games (+13.45 units / 30% ROI). Find more NBA betting trends for Hawks vs. Clippers.

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