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The Boston Celtics host the Washington Wizards in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, with Boston rated as a 5 point spread favorites by the bookies.
The Celtics (1st seed) were extremely close to winning the series in Game 6 in Washington, as they led by 5 points with about 90 seconds to go, but some Washington heroics denied them the chance. However, Boston will be confident returning to the Garden in a series that has been completely dominated by home court advantage.
Washington (4th seed) was saved by a late John Wall three pointer to maintain their unbeaten record at home in the playoffs, but now the Wizards need to step it up big time on the road. Washington has been a completely different team away from home this season, not looking like playoff material, and if they do not improve big time, they will lose the series in this Game 7. The fact that they were so close to losing Game 6 at home should actually be worrying for them, even if morale will be good due to the last second victory.
Bet on Celtics vs. Wizards and claim your 100% (100 Eur) free bet at Ohmbet now!Team news: Boston will be at full strength for Game 7. Washington has a few concerns about Bojan Bogdanovic, who was hit by the flu, but he should be able to shake that off and make his usual impact from the bench.
The two teams met 10 times this season (regular season + playoffs) and each team won its home matches. The closest anybody came to winning on the road was Boston a few days ago in Game 6, as neither of the other 9 games was decided by less than 8 points.
I see no reason for the home court dominance to stop in this game. Washington is simply much worse away from home, they have been for the entire regular season and for the playoffs. Even if they step up their game in this decisive game, winning on the road in a Game 7 in Boston, one of the most intimidating arenas in the NBA, seems like an almost impossible task.
Bookies opened up with Boston as a ~ 1.55 favorite to win straight up and the odds have already started to drop a bit. As it has been the case in most games in this series, the price for the home team is a little bit inflated after the opponents previously won their own home game. But the reality is that previous results have no impact on the following match – the momentum is swinging from game to game based just on who has home court advantage.
It`s hard to see Boston blowing this at The Garden. However, Game 7`s are usually intense so I won`t bet on the handicap, even if I do believe Boston will cover it.
My tip is the Celtics to win straight up, I don`t think this bet should be priced above 1.45 and it might not be anymore on Monday night, so I`m taking it a bit earlier. Given everything that happened so far in this series, and the value I see in the pick, I will go with maximum stakes. Prediction: Boston Celtics – Washington Wizards 105 – 97.
Pick: Celtics
Odds: 1.54 @ 1xBet
Stake: 10
Possible profit: 5.40
Event date: 15 May
