Celtics Hope to Continue Home Court Winning Trend in Game 7
On Monday, Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals best of seven series tips off from TD Garden in Boston when the Washington Wizards visit the Boston Celtics. The winner moves on to meet the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals.
The current line has Boston favored by 5 points with the over/under point total sitting on 209.5.
Boston blew a 5-point lead late in Game 6 and was hurt by poor clock management during the final second of its 92-91 loss to the Wizards. However, the Celtics will play at home in Game 7 and will look to continue the trend of the home team winning each home game during the series.
Washington’s star guard John Wall hit a 3-point shot with 3.5 second remaining in Game 6 to put his team up by one points. The Wizards had a foul to give and did that with 2.7 second remaining. However, the Celtics were given just 1.7 seconds by officials and missed a desperation 3-pointer.
Dating back to the regular season, the home team in this matchup between the Wizards and Celtics has won 10 consecutive games.
Washington has not reached the conference finals since 1979, but a win will end that run of futility. Boston’s last trip to the conference finals was in 2012.
Wall has averaged 26.2 points and 10.1 assists during the series for the Wizards and he and backcourt mate Bradley Beal form a backcourt that loves to take the important shots. Beal scored 33 points on Friday, but has hit just 26% of his shots from beyond the 3-point arc.
Boston’s Isaiah Thomas has averaged only 19.2 points per game since scoring 53 points during Game 2. However, Celtics guard Avery Bradley has stepped up the past two games with 29 and 27 points respectively.
Boston center Al Horford is shooting 69% during the series and averaging 17 points per game.
Washington forward Otto Porter Jr. was averaging 15.7 points per game through the first five games of this series but did not score in Game 6.
Washington is 3-7 ATS in its past 10 games played.
Boston is 8-2 ATS in its past 10 games played.
Prediction: Home court has proven the difference in this series. Look for this to hold true for Game 7. Boston straight up and less the points looks to be the pick here.
