Atlanta Hawks vs Miami Heat Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 09/04/2024, 05:26  by Joseph King | Modified on 09/04/2024 at 11:30 in NBA Prediction

The 10th-place Atlanta Hawks play host to the eighth-placed Miami Heat in this NBA Eastern Conference clash on Tuesday evening. Atlanta is 36-42 on the season and has guaranteed themselves a spot in the play-in tournament where they will take on the Chicago Bulls in the first game between the 10th vs 9th seed. With four games left on the schedule, they’ll be attempting to leapfrog the Bulls in the final few games and secure home court advantage for the aforementioned game against Chicago. Currently, the Hawks trail the Bulls by just a single game in the standings. The hosts will have to bounce back from a two-game losing streak following a heavy 142-110 away defeat to the Nuggets on Saturday. The result moved the Hawks road record to 15-24 on the year. They’ll be hoping a return to the State Farm Arena, where they are 21-18, can provide them a much-needed boost in this game.

Miami will not have given up hope of securing a top-six seed in the East and thus earning automatic qualification. However, they’ll need to be near faultless in the run-in and hope that some other teams slip up if they are to avoid the play-in tournament. With the way things currently stand, the Heat’s 43-35 record has them sitting eighth in the East and trailing the sixth-place Pacers by 1.5 games. Miami were dealt a huge blow in their most recent game when they fell to a 117-115 away loss to Indiana in one of the team’s biggest games of the season so far. Last season’s Eastern Conference champions have now lost two of their last three but are still in relatively good overall form with six wins from their last 10.