South East division

Tonight I am going to do a write up of the current happenings in the south east division. Whilst the Heat are leading the division, it is not by the margin most thought would have already opened up. The Hawks have been a massive shock so far and have taken wins against OKC and Memphis already. Bobcats have also fared very well this year and can thank Kemba Walker and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for their change in fortune. Orlando have had a mixture of results this year but are probably slightly over achieving at this current point and Wizards have found life very difficult this year with John Wall out indefinately and Nene only just making a return.

Miami Heat

Currently we perceive the betting angle on Heat to be over points where-ever possible. They are playing fast tempo Basketball which can cost them in terms of setting good defensive positions and it becomes more of a 'you score, we score' game. Lebron is as consistent ever (25.18ppg, 9.18 reb and 6.88 ast) and Ray Allen has sunk some clutch 3s so far this season (12.94 ppg in 27 mins). Chris Bosh has been impressive in offence (19 ppg) but what is interesting is that Lebron is out-rebounding Bosh (8.06 rpg). A small centre at the moment means that the Heat are leaking quite a lot of points in the key.

Key stats

• 103.8 ppg (rank 3)
• 100.0 ppg for opponents (rank 22)
• Effective FG % 54.6 (rank 1)
• Opponents effective FG 50.0% (rank 23)
• Opponents 2nd quarter points per game 26.8 (rank 30!!)
• Offensive rebounds per game 8.2 (rank 29)

As you can see from the above statistics the Heat do not recycle offensive plays very well and they are leaking very high percentages of field goals. Some points based angles (2nd quarter especially) for us and our followers to work with here.

Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta have had a fantastic start to the season which was not particularly expected at the start of the campaign. Al Horford at centre is having a strong season so far (16.40 ppg and 9.93 reb) and Josh Smith also racking up some impressive stats (16.53 ppg and 8.47 reb). It is generally the overall team strength and consistent team performances that are getting the Hawks to grab some impressive wins. Atlanta are also succeeding well at getting out on the floor and using fast breaks whenever possible and the Hawks are also providing to be a team that share the ball well.

Key stats

• Assists per game 23.2 (rank 3)
• Opp points per game 93.6 (rank 6)
• Fastbreak points per game 17.2 (rank 4)
• 48.9 rebounds per game (rank 24)
  
  The only weakness looks their rebounding at the moment and therefore the bigger teams in the NBA could possibly dominate this area. Overall the Hawks are using their roster well and are playing clever defence making them a team we would like to back where possible at the moment

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