{"id":6421,"date":"2008-12-29T17:57:30","date_gmt":"2008-12-29T22:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=6421"},"modified":"2008-12-29T18:03:46","modified_gmt":"2008-12-29T23:03:46","slug":"nuggets-hawks-free-pick-291208","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/nba\/nuggets-hawks-free-pick-291208\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Betting &#8211; Nuggets vs. Hawks (Dec. 29)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>NBA Sports Betting Nuggets @ Hawks<\/h2>\n<p>While the Denver Nuggets ( 19-11 SU, 16-13-1 ATS, 15-15 O\/U) have been mired in somewhat of a mini-slump recently, the now revitalized ballclub has won two straight games in the BetUS Sportsbook coming into tonight\u2019s meeting against the suddenly defensive-minded Atlanta Hawks (19-10 SU, 17-12 ATS, 10-17-2 O\/U). \u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Thanks to the addition of veteran point guard Chauncey Billups, the Nuggets have been transformed from a high-scoring team with no focus, into a legitimate contender in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n<p>Denver is coming off a solid 117-100 win over the New York Knicks on Sunday where they covered the spread for BetUS NBA sports betting buffs as a 4.5-point road favorite.<\/p>\n<p>Forward Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 32 points on 13-of-19 shooting from the field to go along with nine rebounds for Denver while shooting guard J.R. Smith added 16 points and Billups 14 points in the win.<\/p>\n<p>Anthony returned to the Nuggets following a three-game absence because of a sore right elbow.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think that was the best thing that ever happened to me,&#8221; Anthony said of the week off. &#8220;At first I was a little hesitant about doing it. Any time you can get rest during a long season like this, it helps.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He was really hot. It&#8217;s good to have him back,&#8221; Denver guard Chauncey Billups said. &#8220;They never doubled him and if they would have, he&#8217;s grown to the player that was going to make the next play, make the pass.<\/p>\n<p>The Hawks are coming off a thrilling 129-117 win over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, led by shooting guard Joe Johnson\u2019s game-high 41. Atlanta covered the spread for BetUS NBA sports betting backers as a 9-point home favorite as athletic forward Josh Smith added 24 points and Marvin Williams 16 in the win.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson, who recorded a triple-double in his previous game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, fell one point shy of matching his career scoring high, set in 2006.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The guys were saying I should keep the ball and go to the free-throw line,&#8221; Johnson said of the last minute, when the Bulls had to foul. &#8220;But all that mattered to me is that we won the game.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Atlanta&#8217;s 129 points Saturday were a season high and came after it averaged 92.7 points in the previous 11 games.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It shows that we are versatile,&#8221; forward Josh Smith said. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t matter whether we&#8217;re playing a fast style of basketball or slow, just as long as we win.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.betus.com\/ats\/11892\/mid\/2183\/default.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"margin: 1px; border: 1px solid #ffffff;\" title=\"Betus NBA Betting\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sportsimagestore.com\/showbanner.asp?affid=11892&#038;banid=1399 alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" \/><\/a><strong>Here is a look at tonight\u2019s key betting trends, followed by my in-depth analysis and NBA Free Pick:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Nuggets are 7-3-1 ATS in their last 11 vs. Eastern Conference.<br \/>\nThe Nuggets are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games vs. a team with a winning percentage above .600.<br \/>\nThe Hawks are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.<br \/>\nThe Hawks are 7-0 ATS in their last 7 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.<br \/>\nThe Under is 5-1 in Nuggets last 6 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.<br \/>\nThe Under is 9-0 in Hawks last 9 games playing on 1 days rest.<br \/>\nThe Nuggets are 3-7 ATS in the last 10 meetings.<br \/>\nThe Nuggets are 1-4 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Atlanta.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NBA Odds<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Denver Nuggets +5 -110<br \/>\nAtlanta Hawks -5 -110<\/p>\n<p>Over 200 -110<br \/>\nUnder 200 -110<\/p>\n<p><strong>Analysis<\/strong>: This game should be an absolute barn-burner as these two teams are very evenly matched. While I like the high-flying Hawks with their new defensive mentality, to win this contest at home, I think the Nuggets are going to really push the Hawks for the outright win with Carmelo Anthony back in the lineup.<\/p>\n<p>Take the Nuggets, with the points, to cover the spread by the slimmest of margins. I also like the Under in a big way in for this matchup and think it may be an even better play than the ATS selection.<\/p>\n<h3>NBA Free Picks: Under 200 Total Points\/Nuggets +5 Points<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Free pick and preview plus NBA betting odds and basketball lines for the matchup featuring the Denver Nuggets and the Atlanta Hawks&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2762,1979,3938,3939,1975,5958,7438,7440,4045,5343,744,4044,3942,747,3925,6743,7439],"class_list":["post-6421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nba","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-basketball-betting","tag-basketball-odds","tag-bet-on-basketball","tag-bet-on-nba","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-denver-nuggets-vs-atlanta-hawks","tag-denver-vs-atlanta-nba-free-pick","tag-free-nba-picks","tag-hawks-betting-trends","tag-nba-betting","tag-nba-handicappers","tag-nba-handicapping","tag-nba-lines","tag-nba-predictions","tag-nuggets-betting-trends","tag-nuggets-vs-hawks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6421"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6426,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6421\/revisions\/6426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}