Houston Rockets vs. Atlanta Hawks Picks and Predictions
A few games will be in the books when the NBA schedule begins for the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
It’s a meeting between a pair of teams trending in different directions, though the Rockets are hoping to correct that this season and take a step toward contention while developing their young players.
Houston Rockets vs. Atlanta Hawks
Matchup Info
- Time and Date: 10-19, 7:30 p.m.
- Location: Atlanta, GA
- Venue: State Farm Arena
- How to Watch: NBA League Pass
Not one of the better NBA matchups historically, only meeting in 160 regular season games since the Rockets were founded ahead of the 1967-68 season.
The series is relatively even, with the Rockets leading the series 81-79. The Hawks, however, have won six of the eight playoff meetings.
More recently, however, the Hawks have won three of the last four meetings straight up. Rockets vs. Hawks betting picks show the Hawks have won against the spread in four of the last five meetings, as has the over.
Houston Rockets
Hopefully, there are some fun players to watch because the Rockets’ roster is rough. There are few veterans, including the 7 foot 4 Boban Marjanovic, who is one of the most fun players in the league, and wing Eric Gordon, to steer an otherwise youthful locker room.
2023 NBA Draft
That could become problematic when the losing kicks in for a team that may be the odds favorite to secure the top pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Expect Kevin Porter Jr. to take a step forward in his development. That will be the ask after the Rockets finalized a four-year contract extension valued at $82.5 million.
Young guards Jalen Green and TyTy Washington Jr. offer more excitement, as does athletic forward Jabari Smith Jr., the third overall pick in this summer’s draft.
Houston Rockets finished a league-worst 20-62 last season, and it may be heading to a similar record this season.
Key Injuries
Houston’s injury report shows promising forward Jae’Sean Tate is doubtful with an ankle injury, while Smith is probable to make his career debut with an ankle injury.
Betting Trends to Know
The Rockets are 4-0 against the spread in their last four road games, and the over is 6-1 in the last seven games overall. However, they also are 0-7 against the spread in the last seven games on three or more days of rest.
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks safely made last year’s play-in tournament but have bigger aspirations this year and hope to build on a 43-39 campaign a season ago.
Alongside star guard Trae Young, they added Dejounte Murray, a two-way star who figures to start. John Collins and De’Andre Hunter also return to the frontcourt with Capela.
A veteran, Frank Kaminsky, figures to get minutes and push for more time against Onyeka Okongwu.
On the wings are Bogdan Bogdanovic and Jarrett Culver, who the Hawks acquired last season, with Aaron Holiday as another guard addition.
Murray’s Addition
It will be fascinating to see the identity the Hawks have and how they handle their rotations with Murray’s addition. He is comfortable as a point guard and could allow Young to run off more screens a la Steph Curry-like.
But he could also anchor the second unit as a strong defender up top who can run the offense and get downhill easily. Expect the addition to pad Young’s NBA player stats and potentially contend for postseason hardware.
Key Injuries
Bogdanovic is out Wednesday with a knee injury, while rim-running center Clint Capela can be expected to man the middle. He’s probably with a thumb injury.
Betting Trends to Know
The under is 5-0 in the last five Hawks games and also in their last four home games.
Rockets vs. Hawks Odds Breakdown
Odds show the Hawks are 9.5-point favorites with an over/under of 233.5 points each at -107. The Hawks are overwhelming moneyline favorites at -450, with the Rockets at +350, which is a switch from moving at -431 and +343, respectively.
Rockets vs. Hawks betting picks show the public favors the Rockets, with 53% of bets on Houston against the spread. It also shows that 56% of public bets are on the under.
Houston Rockets vs. Atlanta Hawks Betting Picks
Moneyline
The Rockets shouldn’t be very good this season, and the Hawks are hoping to contend in the Eastern Conference. Losing this game would be enough to sound the alarms amongst the fan base. We’ll take Hawks -450.
NBA Pick: Hawks (-450)
Over/Under
NBA team stats showed how bad the Rockets truly were last season. They weren’t good defensively and played a lot of high-scoring games.
They’ll be looking to develop offensively, as challenging as they may be, and the Hawks play with great pace.
A total of 233.5 is high, and with an early season contest with players not yet in rhythm.
NBA Pick: Under 217 (-110)
Spread
It will be fascinating to see the Rockets’ effort level when they get down big. The Hawks are going to be energized even though they overmatch Houston pretty easily.
We’ll take the Hawks -9.5 and hope they don’t overlook the young Rockets team.
NBA Pick: Hawks -9.5 (-1109
Houston Rockets vs. Atlanta Hawks Score Prediction
These three options scream easy Rockets vs. Hawks betting picks, which is far from peaceful. It seems as though there should be some pretty comfortable feelings with these picks based on where they’ll end up at the season’s end, but that’s where the difficulty lies in sports betting sometimes.
Alas, it’s good to have the NBA back on the slate.
Score Prediction: Hawks 118, Rockets 101
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