Your free pick winner for Friday is on the Atlanta Hawks -3.5 against Philadelphia. This comes from Matt Rivers.

I played the Hawks in the opener in Memphis and will go back to that well one more time. It’s always asking a little to lay points on the road but there is the potential for this 76er squad to be half a disaster and I really like Larry Drew’s boys right now.

Philadelphia was atrocious in the opener getting absolutely smacked around by Lebron and the Heat saving some face in garbage time and come into this thing with very little. Doug Collins is a decent enough coach but there’s a reason why the guy was out of coaching for a while and his boys will struggle in the early going.

The Hawks meanwhile have a roster that has now been together for a while and it showed in the beyond easy victory at Memphis on Tuesday. Joe Johnson is a perennial All-Star stud leading the way along with a ridiculously athletic Josh Smith plus guys like Al Horford and Jamal Crawford who are really good. Throw in a quality double-double in the opener by Zaza Pachulia and a few other guys and the Hawks are without a doubt still the fourth best team in the East behind the three mega teams in Miami, Orlando and Boston.

I like Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner showed glimpses against the Heat but today’s visitors are a team that has been gelling for a few seasons now and in this early spot should be far better prepared to get the victory.

I am not calling for a total burial but if this thing gets a little ugly early it would not entirely shock me.

The pick: Atlanta +3

For more information: Another winning day yesterday as the Wolfpack came back for that brilliant outright victory. I’m starting to really heat up now after my third straight winning 400,000* along with my third straight winning day and fourth in the last five days. Two more fire hot locks are here as I get the long Halloween weekend started right including a 300,000* on the gridiron between a couple of somewhat struggling teams in West Virginia and Connecticut plus a 200,000* on the hardwoods involving Los Angeles and Phoenix. 2-0? Heck yes! Click now to purchase