Nets vs. Hawks Prediction, Odds: Best NBA Bets, Tips

We'll get our first look at top draft pick Zaccharie Risacher in the regular season on Wednesday night when the Atlanta Hawks host the Brooklyn Nets for an Eastern Conference showdown.

Unfortunately, it could be difficult for Brooklyn to get an away win due to the absence of Day'Ron Sharpe (thigh), Trendon Watford (thigh) and Bojan Bogdanovic (foot).

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Here are our predictions and picks for the Nets and Hawks' regular season opener on Wednesday night.

Nets vs Hawks odds

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The backcourt experiment of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray didn't work as planned. However, Atlanta was able to move on from Murray and received draft capital and some key rotation pieces back in the trade with the Pelicans.

On paper, adding a talented, switchable fullback to a team desperate to hide Young on defense made sense, but perhaps the Hawks just need to lean in and play at a breakneck pace this season.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn is in the midst of a rebuild after trading Mikal Bridges for a truckload of first-rounders from Brink's.

It forces the Nets to endure what will inevitably be a terrible few seasons in the hope that they can get lucky in the upcoming drafts and prepare for the future. There won't be much to win in Brooklyn this season.

The spread for Wednesday night's opener is 7.5 points in favor of Atlanta for both teams. What can we expect from these teams in their first regular season game?

First, there's a lot to like about this Hawks team, especially its bench, which features one of the best sixth men in Bogdan Bogdanovic, the 2024 No. 1 pick in Risacher, and a seasoned frontcourt veteran in Larry Nance Jr and two talented two players are represented -way inner power in Onyeka Okongwu.

Atlanta should be one of the fastest teams in the NBA this season. The Hawks ranked sixth in speed last year, but should be even quicker this season to make up for their clear defensive weaknesses.

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Nets vs. Hawks picks

Brooklyn simply doesn't have enough firepower to keep this opponent within striking distance.

Additionally, the Nets performed extremely poorly at 3-13-2, compared to the margin as underdogs of 7.5 points or more in the 2023-24 season.

We don't normally enjoy scoring so many points with a team we're unsure of going into the season, but there's a clear disparity in talent and style contrast that favors Atlanta this season.

Pick: Hawks -7.5 (-110, Caesars)

Why you should trust New York Post Betting

Andrew Norton hinders the NBA, WNBA, NFL, college basketball and football, UFC and golf. During the 2022-23 NBA season, he achieved an outstanding 14.1% ROI by cashing in 60% of his NBA spread picks and led Tallysight in the SportsIQ metric.