Washington Wizards vs Boston Celtics NBA Playoff Betting Picks, Odds & Predictions
On Tuesday night, the Wizards will travel to Boston to face the Celtics in the second game of the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. Washington finished the regular season 8th in the East after an amazing turnaround in the last third of the season. They caught fire in April winning 12 out of the 16 NBA playoff betting games. Also, the Wizards have lost only 5 times in the last 15 outings. On Sunday, they clinched their spot in the top half of the play-in tournament with a win against the Hornets.
Washington ended the regular season with a 34-38 record, going 41-30-1ATS. The Celtics, on the other hand, are coming to the game after struggling over the last month. In the last 15 games, they won only five times. However, solid performances earlier in the season were enough for the 7th spot in the conference. Overall, Boston is 36-36 straight up and 34-28 against the spread. The two teams met 3 times this season with the Celtics winning twice.
Washington Wizards vs Boston Celtics NBA Playoff Betting Odds & Line Movement
The opening NBA playoff betting odds favored the Celtics by -1, but with most of the early money going their way, the line has moved to -2. The total dropped a bit from the initial 234.5 and now stands at 232,5.
Notes On The Washington Wizards
The Wizards came alive in the second part of the season and were one of the best teams in the league in the last 2 months. They have the 5th-best net rating in the league over the last 15 games. Also, they’re 10th in the defensive rating in the same span.
It’s a remarkable NBA playoff betting turnaround for a team that was terrible on the defensive end in the first half of the campaign. The main role in the late-season run belongs to Russel Westbrook who carried the team with his amazing series of triple-doubles in the absence of Bradley Beal. Beal’s health is the biggest question mark ahead of tonight’s game. The league’s second-best scorer return on Sunday in a 115-110 win against Charlotte but was clearly not at 100%. Still, he managed to score 25 points but shooting only 8-27. Westbrook recorded another triple-double with 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. Robin Lopez added a valuable contribution from the bench with 18 points and 6 rebounds.
Tonight, coach Brooks can’t count on Deni Avdija and Thomas Bryant who are out for the season. Raul Neto is a game time decision.
Notes On The Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are coming off an aextremely inconsistent season. Their whole campaign has been marred by injuries, Covid problems, and chemistry issues. For a team that has reached thae Conference Finals last season, this has been pretty much a disappointing year. The defense has always been a calling card for Coach Stevens’ team, but the Celts have been thoroughly average in that department this year, finishing 14th in the defensive rating. To add to their woes, the Celtics have lost their All-Star guard Jaylen Brown for the season. In their last game out, the Celtics gave the rest to most of their keyplayers. In a game of no real importance, the leading scores was Jabari Parer with 18 points.
As we mentioned, Jaylen Brown is unavailable tonight. The only other concern is Robert Williams who is a game time decisions.
Washington Wizards vs Boston Celtics NBA Playoff Betting Pick, & Prediction:UNDER 232.5
The Celtics ability on offense takes a big hit without Jaylen Brown and they weren’t that efficient to begin with. The Wizards play at a breakneck speed but this is practically a NBA playoff betting game and we can expect them to slow things a bit, too.
