YTD 11-7 +6.55u
NHL 8-3 (+8.85u)
NBA 3-3 (-0.10u)
NFL 0-1 (-2.20 u)

2-0 Sweep last night. Pacers won it straight up. NHL is off until Tuesday, may or may not take the weekend off unless there's a spot too good to pass up in NBA.

Washington Wizards vs. Atlanta Hawks // Jan 27


For starters…


The Washington Wizards (25-20) and Atlanta Hawks (27-19) know each other very well. The two teams from the Southeast Division started sluggish this season but are now rubbing elbows with the best teams in the Eastern Conference.


Capital gains


The Wizards find themselves back in the playoff picture in a big way. An improvement from last season would have been battling for one of the last playoff spots, but instead the Wizards are well above the cut in the East and sit in fifth, a game and a half behind their foe tonight. Although they are 6-14 on the road this season, they have won eight of their last 10 games.


They’ll need that momentum to carry them into Atlanta, a place where they haven’t faired particularly well. Since 2010, they're at 2-11 when traveling to Atlanta and 2-5 since 2013. Heading into Atlanta as underdogs tonight, the Wizards are 7-23 as road dogs in their last 30. Against the spread in that span, they are 15-15.
With a three-point spread—as it is tonight—the Wizards are 8-11-1 ATS as a road underdog against Atlanta in the last 20 games and 4-16 straight up as road dog vs. the Hawks.


Southern predator



While the Wizards trail the Hawks by a game and a half, the Hawks are more concerned with what’s going on atop the leaderboard. The Hawks are half a game behind the Boston Celtics and only a game being the Toronto Raptors for second overall in the East. In their last 15 games, they have come away with the win 12 times.


The Hawks know what is at stake. With the Cleveland Cavaliers and Raptors slumping, their play has shown a sense of urgency. That was evident on Wednesday when they pulled off a come-from-behind win against the Chicago Bulls, 119-114.


Over the past four games, the Hawks have averaged 104 points for. The current scoring outburst is good news for a team that is only 20th in the league in scoring, averaging 103.3 points per game. The Hawks are 13-9 at home this season.


The Final Breakdown


The Hawks cannot get tied down by teams below them if they want to keep pressure on the teams ahead of them. They know they have put themselves in an opportunity to contend for the top of the East. They won’t slip up at home now.


Atlanta Hawks -3.5 (110) 1u