Wednesday Night NBA Opinion [B]Wednesday, February 17
Atlanta @ LA Clippers
Recommendation: Take the Hawks -6[/B]
The Clippers haven’t just been bad under interim head coach Kim Hughes – they’ve been awful. Most teams enjoy a temporary boost in energy and confidence when they get a new coach. The Clips are 0-4 SU and ATS since Hughes took over for Mike Dunleavy. In all four games, LA showed little passion or desire during crunch time. They lost by double digit margins each time, including twice on their home floor.
LA hasn’t just been bad on the second night of back-2-backs – they’ve been awful. They are 0-6 SU in their last six tries in this role, losing those six games by a combined 77 points. They just traded away key contributor Marcus Camby – their best interior defender and rebounder, by far – in a nonsensical salary dump that didn’t actually save them much money or bring them any needed pieces. Then they cut Ricky Davis, who actually had a legitimate role as a veteran leader on this team. This team is a chemistry nightmare once again. Their lack of effort is very real in this setting.
Atlanta brings a very different level of emotion into this contest. The Hawks were humiliated at home in their last game before the break, blown out by 18 points in a non-competitive defeat. Head coach Mike Woodson was not amused, requiring the entire team to meet in LA on Monday for a pair of vigorous practice sessions over the past two days. With a healthy roster once again – both Jamal Crawford and Zaza Pachulia are expected back in the lineup tonight -- expect the Hawks to take care of business against an opponent that simply doesn’t care.
[B]Take Atlanta[/B]
