Bill Yin breaks down his prediction and pick for tonight’s game between the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks.

The 15-58 Nets will host the 44-33 Hawks tonight. The Hawks will be without Jock Landale. The Nets have listed Nic Claxton and Noah Clowney as Probable. Egor Demin, Michael Porter Jr., Danny Wolf, and Day’Ron Sharpe remain Out.

The Hawks are 16.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook with the total for this game set at 225.5 points.

Nets vs. Hawks prediction, preview

Atlanta has been one of the hotter teams in the East for a while now. The Hawks come in 44-33, have won three straight, and just smashed Orlando 130-101 after beating Boston and Sacramento earlier in the week. They’re piling on 118.3 PPG, 30.3 APG, and allowing 116.0 points. They’re first in APG and sixth in scoring. That tracks with how they play. Jalen Johnson has turned into the head of the snake with 22.8 PPG, 10.3 RPG, and 8.1 APG. The surrounding roster is built on shared creation in this iteration of the Hawks, and not just one guy pounding the air out of the ball. Johnson is Atlanta’s leader in all three categories (scoring, rebounding, and assists). This group is humming with pace, ball movement, and enough interchangeable wings and guards to keep pressure on defenses for the full possession. The weakness is still that the defense is lackluster, but against Brooklyn that may not matter much. We’re all very curious to see what this Hawks team looks like heading into the postseason.

Brooklyn is still operating from a shaky base. The Nets are 18-58, just 10-27 at home, and the current injury report is dire. They’re missing a lot of size and rotation stability missing for a team that already struggles to hold up over a full game. Brooklyn is posting only 106.0 PPG and allowing 115.5. They’re grabbing 39.6 RPG and dishing 25.1 APG, and the recent form has been rough even by rebuilding-team standards. They did snap a 10-game losing streak against Sacramento earlier in the week, but that’s not saying much. Two nights later, Charlotte crushed them 117-86 and beat them up on second chances. The Hornets will look to solidify their eighth seed in the East. It’s also no coincidence that their current spot in the East coincides with LaMelo Ball’s second healthiest season ever, trailing only his 75 game sophomore campaign in which he made the All-Star team.

Nets vs. Hawks pick, best Bet

Best Bet: ATL Hawks -17.5 (-105)

There’s not much that can dissuade me from going with the Hawks spread tonight, after just seeing the Hornets eviscerate this desolate Nets team (and that game’s pre-game spread of -18.5). The Hawks have to secure their fifth seed, as they are just 1.5 games ahead of the 76ers, and this must-win tonight is a good stepping stone to get there.