NBA Odds: Hawks vs. Sixers
| Hawks Odds | +6 |
| Sixers Odds | -6 |
| Over/Under | 224 |
| Time | Channel | 7:30 p.m. ET | TNT |
Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks continued their "shock the world tour" on Sunday when they knocked off the No. 1 seed Sixers in Philadelphia in Game 1 of their playoff series.
Atlanta has been a completely different team since Nate McMillan took over for Lloyd Pierce. The Hawks' defense has been more active and Young has been more confident than ever.
Nate McMillan was named interim coach of the Hawks on March 1, 2021…
📊 Since then, the most profitable teams in the NBA against the spread:
1. Hawks: 27-15-1 ATS 💰
2. Knicks: 26-15-1 ATS pic.twitter.com/j8mQBBcu3m— NBABet (@nbabet) June 3, 2021
Young burst onto the national stage this postseason, dominating the Knicks in a gentlemen's sweep and then dropping 35 points and 10 assists against the Sixers in Game 1.
TRAE YOUNG FROM DEEP ❄️
He's got 25 points and 7 assists at half 😤 pic.twitter.com/v60eyqOjXc
— The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) June 6, 2021
Slowing down Young's production will be the key for Philadelphia in this series, and Doc Rivers might soon give up his reluctance to use defensive ace Ben Simmons on Young.
The one relief for Rivers is he doesn't have to worry about Joel Embiid, who looked great in Game 1. Embiid dropped in an uber-efficient 39 points on 21 field goal attempts, and the Sixers shot 54.9% from the field as a team.
Offensive production wasn't Philadelphia's issue. The club's inability to slow down the Hawks' bench unit (and its defense as a whole) was the problem. Game 2 will show us if Rivers and company have devised a more sound plan to slow down Young's offensive brilliance.
There is reason to believe that the Sixers simply needed a game to feel out this confident Hawks team. Rivers stated Philadelphia is a much better defensive team than we saw Sunday, and our latest PRO Report shows that we may see that elite defense show up in crunch time.
Let's take a look.
NBA Picks: Hawks vs. Sixers
PRO Systems
Game 2 between the Hawks and Sixers fits neatly into The Action Network's "NBA Playoffs: More Money on Favorites PRO System, which has a 62% win rate and a 21% Return On Investment since 2015.
PRO Report Pick: Sixers -6 (-105 at PointsBet)
