DTM’s Friday Night NBA Special | ATL at CLE

Atlanta Hawks (40-38) at Cleveland Cavaliers (51-27)

When: 7:30 PM ET, Friday, April 7, 2017

Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio

America’s Bookie Line: Cleveland -10 Total: 214

TV Coverage: NBA TV

By Dan Leach

Follow Dan on Twitter @DanLeach971

The Hawks dug deep on Thursday night and took down the hot Boston Celtics in Hotlanta to give themselves some momentum as the playoffs get ready to liftoff. The big question now is can they keep it going against the East’s top team on the second night of a back-to-back? I say they have a great chance to if you see what they did well against Boston.

The Hawks have their issues on defense at times and they still did allow 116 to the Celts, but it was the key stops they got late when it mattered most along with scoring 123, that made them look like a team that could be trouble come playoff time. Cleveland had been mired in a slump for the better part of three weeks until the last four games which they have all won and now the Cavs and LeBron will look to put a stranglehold on the 1-seed in the East which Boston had actually took the lead in recently until giving it back up in a tough home lost to the Cavs earlier this week.

This game will be all about tempo and whether the Hawks can weather the early Cleveland storm as they will have tired legs after playing last night. Look for Atlanta to give another solid effort as they continue to gain confidence as a squad that could be very dangerous come playoff time. Atlanta might not win this one, but they will hang in within the 10-point spread and look for a huge game from Paul Millsap who turned in a double double of 26 and 12 last night in the win over Boston.

7.8 DTM Bagels and Locks on the Hawks (ATL +10)

Dan Leach was the world’s first human to live under the sea for more than 60 days, created what is now used as the International Olympic Flag, was the basis of Denzel Washington’s character Frank Lucas in “American Gangster”, Is often consulted on matters of national “Sports Security”, was the first human to interview Dracula, started the American Revolution on a dare, once sat in on drums with Led Zeppelin, and is a noted expert in the field of Time Travel.