Bettors are all over the Atlanta Hawks ahead of Friday's NBA play-in game versus the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Hawks, who opened as consensus 1.5-point underdogs, per Action Network's BetLabs, have hit -3 on the odds board.
It's early, but the Hawks vs. Cavs showdown is shaping up for a couple lopsided splits in both ticket and money count.
Atlanta's attracting 80% of the wagers and 88% of money on the betting spread across retail sportsbooks at the time of writing. The Hawks are also popular moneyline bets, too, pulling in 82% of tickets and 98% of handle.
At BetMGM in particular, 85% of the spread tickets and 91% of the money is on Atlanta.
Although Friday isn't technically a playoff game, teams with a spread moving four points or more in their direction are just 9-19-1 against the closing spread in the postseason over the last 15 years. The Hawks, in this case, are a fade.
Despite a small sample since 2005, teams in the postseason are 0-6-1 against the spread when the number moves at least five points in their direction, which applies if Atlanta reaches -3.5.
Cleveland covered as a 9.5-point 'dog in Tuesday's seven-point play-in loss to Brooklyn. The Cavaliers have covered games at a solid 54.4% rate this season, good for the eighth-best clip in basketball.
Meanwhile, Atlanta routed Charlotte by 29 points. The offense has been humming, posting 130 points or more in back-to-back contests.
A year after covering games at the seventh-best rate in the NBA, the Hawks are just 38-45 against the spread this season. However, they've covered six consecutive games in the favorite role and three in a row over Cleveland.
The Hawks-Cavaliers total ranges anywhere from 223 to 225.5, depending on the shop.
