Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Atlanta Hawks: Game 2 Odds Preview, Betting Stats

The Cleveland Cavaliers made a strong statement in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday with an impressive 97-89 road victory as a betting underdog, and they will try to head home with a 2-0 series lead following Game 2 against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

The Hawks closed as two-point home favorites in the series opener but could not contain LeBron James or J.R. Smith and suffered a key injury with forward DeMarre Carroll going down with a sprained left knee in the fourth quarter.

Atlanta is listed as a 1.5-point home favorite for Game 2 and could be in serious danger of getting swept without a victory here. Carroll’s status looms large because he was averaging 17.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists while shooting 52.4 percent from the field and 43.9 percent from three-point range.

Defensively, Carroll was also responsible for guarding James, who scored a game-high 31 points in Game 1 while adding eight rebounds and six assists.

Smith killed the Hawks from beyond the arc in Game 1 with eight three-pointers on 12 attempts to finish with 28 points off the bench for the Cavs, who saw other reserves James Jones and Matthew Dellavedova combine to go scoreless and miss all nine shots they took between them.

Both teams shot less than 45 percent from the field as well, which played a huge role in keeping the total under the closing number of 199.5.

The four regular-season meetings between the Cavaliers and the Hawks resulted in three wins for Atlanta, and the over had cashed in six of their previous seven matchups, according to the OddsShark NBA database.

The teams have alternated covers in nine straight meetings heading into Friday's Cavaliers vs. Hawks betting matchup, and Atlanta will need to find more offensive firepower if they are going to battle back to tie it up before the series shifts to Cleveland.

Atlanta point guard Jeff Teague scored a team-high 27 points on 11-of-24 shooting in Game 1, and only James took more shots overall with 26. However, Carroll finished with just five points before leaving the game, and sharpshooter Kyle Korver scored nine points on five shot attempts.

The Hawks have also alternated covers in each of their past eight games in the playoffs overall, with the under cashing three straight times for totals bettors after the over went 3-1 in their previous four games.