Atlanta Hawks NBA Playoff Odds
How the Atlanta Hawks Got Here
The Hawks finished the season fifth in the Eastern Conference, but that certainly did not seem like the path they were on to start the season.
Trae Young shouldered a heavy load on offense, but had a bit of a down year compared to his All-Star season in 2020. Young averaged 25.3 points per game — down from last season — and 9.4 assists with the sixth-highest Usage Rate in the NBA, but it his offensive greatness couldn't offset all of Atlanta's issues.
After adding multiple players in the offseason to fill out the roster, injuries decimated Atlanta's depth for most of the season.
Rajon Rondo played just 27 games before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. Cam Reddish played just 26 games and hasn't seen the floor since late February. De'Andre Hunter recently returned to the lineup for the Hawks but has played 23 games this season. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Danilo Gallinari have missed 28 and 21 games respectively.
And, of course, the Hawks shook up the coaching position mid-season when they let go of Lloyd Pierce in favor of Nate McMillan. The Hawks were 14-20 before the firing and 27-11 after McMillan took over. Since the move, the Hawks rank eighth in the league in Offensive Rating (115.9) and seventh in Net Rating (+4.5).
Bettors have benefitted from the switch as well — Atlanta is 23-14-1 (62.2%) against the spread over that span, including an NBA best 15-7-1 as favorites and 15-4 ATS at home, according to Bet Labs.
The Hawks' late-season surge has them in the thick of the East, but oddsmakers aren't giving he Hawks much of a shot against the elite teams. The Hawks have 40-1 odds to make it to the NBA Finals (tied with New York and Boston) and their odds to win the title are as longs as 100-1 ahead of the NBA Playoffs.
If the Hawks are healthy, though, they could be a potential threat to the top tier teams in the conference.
