For the second straight season, the Charlotte Hornets find themselves in the play-in round. This is a chance for the Hornets to learn from last year’s epic letdown when they were blown out by the Pacers. While the Hawks made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, they have had a topsy-turvy year relative to expectations. Take the Hornets on a line that is too high based on the Hawks' resume last season and their 27-14 home record.

I’m kicking myself for not grabbing this yesterday when the line was Hawks -4.5. If forced to choose, I’d lean towards the Hawks covering the current number of -5.5. However, the Hornets have plenty of fire power, so they could keep things close. I don’t normally like to play anything with odds of -200 or higher, but with the Hawks finishing the regular season 27-14 at home, I’ll still go the safer route and take them on the moneyline.

This is simply a home play -- remember, the Hawks got scorching-hot at home down the stretch last year, too, and it carried them to the East Finals. Atlanta has won 19 of its last 22 at home, the wins being the most in the NBA over that time (since Jan. 17). In that stretch, the Hawks are averaging 121.4 ppg at State Farm Arena and we know the Hornets can't play defense. I also trust Trae Young to raise his game as he did in the 2021 postseason. This might be the highest-scoring game of the entire playoffs (even though the play-in tournament isn't considered the "playoffs") but I stopped betting NBA totals months ago.