This is an unlikely pairing as one could have imagined six weeks ago in the Eastern. One team advances to the official NBA Playoffs and the other still has work to do to reach that point. With the season Boston was coming off of, nobody could have forecasted a .500 record for the Celtics. But a combination of injuries, virus-related absences, inconsistent play, and front office snafus all played a part in what every Boston fan would call a – lost season.
On April 5th, after losing to Toronto to extend their latest losing streak to four games, Washington was 17-32. The only question about them and playoffs was how many players on the team would tune in to watch, not play in them. Literally out of nowhere, led by Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal, the Wizards pulled a rabbit out of their hat on a magical 17-6 SU run and climbed to 8th in the Eastern Conference.
Tuesday, May 18, 9:05 PM EDT at TD Garden
The betting odds at top sportsbooks like Intertops have Boston as small 2-point home favorites. Let's take a closer look at both teams.
Once Westbrook was 100 percent healthy and connected with his new teammates, the Wizards took off. Westbrook had a historic season in terms of triple-doubles and was virtually unstoppable. This took the pressure off of Beal, who ended up second in the NBA in scoring at 31.3 points a game.
Rui Hachimura, Davis Bertans and Thomas Bryant have been big beneficiaries of Westbrook’s ability to find open shooters with penetrations for a team averaging 116.6 PPG, which was third in the league. However, they are middle of the road in terms of various shooting percentages and efficiency. They overcome that by taking and making the most free throws in the league. Washington is an offensive-minded team and is last in points surrendered in The Association 118.5 PPG. As bad as that sounds, they rank 18th to 20th in field goal percentage defense and efficiency, which is why they finished as well as they did.
After reaching the East Finals three of the past four seasons, nobody is sure Boston will be playing when the weekend comes with 15 other squads. After being one of the top defensive teams over the past four years, coach Brad Stevens' club fell to 11th in points allowed and 14th in defensive efficiency. The lack of continuity unquestionably was a big part and so was the front office's mistake of not having a true big man to protect the paint and block shots.
Jaylen Brown was effective when he played, yet was lacking in defensive intensity. Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart played with nagging injuries, which curtailed their effectiveness and younger players that were drafted or picked up the last couple of seasons were not reliable. Aside from Jayson Tatum, who is truly a star, the Celtics record reflects what kind of team this is.
The home team won all three meetings this year (2-1 ATS) and this will be the Celtics' third time to play host. Our initial reaction to the line for NBA picks is that it probably reflects where these teams are at the moment, however, are sportsbooks begging us to take Boston?
So much goes into a one-game situation but this is not one and done, making this less pressure-packed. No doubt Tatum could go off and lead his team to a victory. Still, Westbrook is so unrelenting and it’s not like Washington hasn’t played winning basketball for some time and under pressure, once the postseason play became attainable. Boston limps in at 4-9 SU and ATS since April 23rd, with Washington 8-5 and 10-2-1 ATS on the road in their past 13 tries. Backing the Wizards to make a winning shot in the final seconds.
NBA Picks: Wizards +2 points (-110) at Intertops