The Atlanta Hawks clash against the Indiana Pacers Tuesday night inside the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia as part of the league's In-Season Tournament Group Play. They tip it off at 7:30 pm. 

Bookmaker has installed the Hawks as a -3.5 point favorite. 

The Hawks (6-6) enter this game having dropped two of three games and three of four overall but the losses have been close ones. They believe they have the talent and the horses to make a run into the playoffs and the offense will always be centered around playmaker Trae Young who is netting around 23 a game and he is adding a team-high 11 assists per contest.

Young is the face of the franchise and as he goes, the Hawks go. They need to learn to close out games late, but to their credit they have been playing hard this season. They have won three of six they have been installed as the favorite this season.

They are connecting on 47% from the floor and they are scoring 119 per game this season. They are a decent shooting team from beyond the arc too, knocking down 36% from beyond the arc. When they score more than 117 points in a game they are a solid 7-2 against the number and 7-2 overall. Look for them to let Young create early and often in this game and put pressure on the Pacers' perimeter defense. 

The Hawks can score in bunches and will look to get going early. 

The Pacers (7-5) have dropped two of three after a brief three-game winning streak. They had a poor defensive outing against the Orlando Magic, 128-116. They have no answers for the Magic's Paolo Banchero who torched them for 24 points. 

They had no answers for the big man and against the Hawks they will need to put forth a better defensive effort. On offense, the Pacers are led by bigtime playmaking point guard Tyrese Haliburton who is scoring a career-high 23 points per game.

He is a nice player and one that the franchise is willing to build around. He also plays both ends of the floor and is a decent rebounder and defender. The Pacers are one of the top scoring teams in the league and they average around 125 agame. They typically entice the betting public to play the totals, and will have their work cut out for them when they take on a decent Atlanta team that plays solid defense. 

The Hawks are 2-3 in their last five games and 1-4 in their last five games against the number and the Hawks are a solid 3-3 in their road games against the spread. The totals have gone over in four of their last five games and the totals have gone over in five of their last six games at home. The Pacers are 3-2 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the number. They are also 2-2 in their road games against the number.