Nets curious favourites over Hawks as NBA comes to London
Published:The NBA comes to London for the now obligatory regular-season match to be held at the O2, with those unlucky enough not to land a ticket for the occasion able to tune into BT Sport to catch the action from eight o’clock.
For this UK-based hoop-off the 15-22 Brooklyn Nets take over the away team locker room, with the 20-18 Atlanta Hawks afforded the adulation of the London crowd for the night as the designated home side.
Despite being a loose association, playing at “home” should play into the Hawks’ hands. They’ve claimed 14 of their season wins when playing in front of their own fans and are priced up as 1/1 shots for victory here.
With All-Stars like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams and Brook Lopez in the lineup the Nets will certainly have the more recognisable squad, however, that bunch have performed below expectations this season.
Curiously though the Nets are the 5/6 favourites for victory. That price seemingly does not take into account the fact that they are the designated road team, a tag that’s seen them win just five times so far.
The Jason Kidd-coached Brooklyn outfit had been on something of a renaissance recently though, winning five games in a row before losing last time out to the Toronto Raptors.
That streak included a 91-86 victory over the Hawks, where Atlanta shot just 38.6 per cent and made a season-low 27 field goals.
It’d be a very strange coincidence if tonight’s hosts were that bad again, meaning there’s no reason to avoid the total points market this time around, even after the pair’s low scoring previous meeting.
The line is set at 192.5 and should be taken to be surpassed at 20/23. Seven of Brooklyn’s last nine matches would have seen that bet land, while 11 of Atlanta’s last 14 outings have been games over over 192.5 total points.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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