Tip-off: Tuesday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: Atlanta -7.5, Total: 205

The Hawks look to lock up the East’s No. 5 seed at home against Charlotte.

Among the five games slated for the second to last day of the 2017 NBA regular season, only one team involved has something to play for—at least with regard to playoff implications. That would be the Atlanta Hawks, who are currently fifth in the Eastern Conference at 42-38 (38-42 ATS) and are looking to hold onto a half-game lead in the standings over the lurking Bucks. Coming off of two straight surprising wins over the Cavaliers, the Hawks are looking more confident than they have in perhaps months. Their opponent on Tuesday is the visiting Charlotte Hornets, who are eliminated from playoff contention at 35-45 (35-43-3 ATS), four games out of the No. 8 seed. Charlotte has lost four straight games, all to Eastern Conference teams, with the most recent defeat being an 89-79 setback in Milwaukee (MIL -6.5). In the three games these two teams have played this season, Charlotte has won and covered the spread in all three. Since 1996, favorites that have scored at least 110 points in three straight games (ATL) are 47-87 ATS in games involving two teams allowing at least 102 points per game. Over the last five seasons, games in which a team coming off a win as an underdog (ATL) are attempting to revenge two straight losses in which their opponent (CHA) scored at least 100 points are 114-54 Under against totals of at least 200. Atlanta SG Thabo Sefolosha is questionable to play on Tuesday with a groin injury. For Charlotte, All-Star PG Kemba Walker is expected to sit out with a knee injury and SG Marco Belinelli is questionable to play.

With Charlotte eliminated from the playoffs, it’s no wonder that they would choose to sit the banged up Walker (23.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.5 APG, 1.1 SPG). He was also sidelined against Milwaukee, so it may be informative to look at that game to see how the Hornets fare without their playmaker. (Their 79 points should give you a hint.) 31-year-old PG Brian Roberts (3.5 PPG, 1.3 APG) started in his place, scoring seven points on 3-of-10 shooting, and dishing out only a single assist to go with three turnovers. So, not exactly Kemba numbers. SG Nicolas Batum (15.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 5.9 APG, 1.1 SPG) ran the show a little bit more and put up a solid line with 11 points, eight assists, five rebounds, four steals and a block. Backup guards Jeremy Lamb (9.5 PPG, 4.2 RPG), Treveon Graham (1.8 PPG) and Briante Weber (3.3 PPG) all played between 16 and 21 minutes off the bench; Lamb scored 12 points on 12 shots, Graham had 12 on five attempts and Weber had four. C Frank Kaminsky (11.7 PPG, 4.5 RPG), who was playing in the state in which he went to college, didn’t fare so well in the homecoming, scoring only three points on dismal 1-0f-12 shooting. He did, however, have five assists. The starting frontcourt of SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (9.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG), PF Marvin Williams (11.2 PPG, 6.6 RPG) and C Cody Zeller (10.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG) combined for an underwhelming 27 points and 15 rebounds. Kidd-Gilchrist had 13 points and was a +3 in a team-high 32 minutes.

After missing eight games with an injury at the end of last month, Atlanta PF Paul Millsap (18.2 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.3 SPG) has been instrumental in recent Hawks wins. He put up lines of 26 and 12 in a win over Boston last Thursday and 22 and nine in Sunday’s win over Cleveland. Perhaps the best sign for Atlanta, though, was when they took down the Cavaliers on Friday without Millsap. That said, they shouldn’t need to worry about any absences going forward, as he played 36 minutes on Sunday and was instrumental in a historic 26-point fourth quarter comeback. The team’s next-leading scorer in that one was SG Tim Hardaway Jr. (14.5 PPG) who scored 21 points and grabbed a surprising nine rebounds. It was his third straight game with at least that many points, and he’s also shooting 44.0% from deep in his last five games. PG Dennis Schroder (18.0 PPG, 6.3 APG), the team’s second-leading scorer, also did not play in that first Cleveland game. He has been steady in his last four, hovering around his season averages with 19.0 PPG and 6.0 APG in that stretch. C Dwight Howard (13.5 PPG, 12.7 RPG, 1.2 BPG) certainly doesn’t dominate like he used to, but he was effective in scoring 19 points in 24 minutes on Sunday. Like Schroder and Millsap, he also did not play on Friday against the Cavs. Rookie SF Taurean Prince (5.5 PPG) has been in the starting lineup as of late and has been a strong role player. His 20 points were key in the win over Boston last Thursday.