The Boston Celtics are 9-1 straight up and 6-4 against the spread in their last 10 home games against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics will try to punch their ticket into the Eastern Conference Finals with a home win over the 76ers Wednesday night.
76ers vs. Celtics 2018 odds: Boston is an underdog again seeking a Game 5 victory
The Boston Celtics hope to wrap up their second-round series with Philadelphia on Wednesday night, but the sportsbooks have given the Sixers the small edge.
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Boston is a 1-point home underdog for Game 5 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. In the first two games of this series in Boston, the Celtics won outright as 5-point underdogs in Game 1 and 3.5-point underdogs in Game 2.
Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics
When: Wednesday, May 9, 8 p.m. ET
Where: TD Garden, Boston
Betting Line / Total: Philadelphia -1 / 204 Points
Boston Celtics
The Celtics took a dominating 3-0 lead in this series with a 101-98 win in Philadelphia in Game 3 as 9-point underdogs. Boston was unable to close out the series with a sweep, but now has three more shots including two at home to wrap this one up.
Terry Rozier and Jayson Tatum are leading the way in scoring for the Celtics this postseason as each is averaging 18.3 points per game. The rookie Tatum is averaging 23.3 points per game in this series.
There have been 10 instances this season in which the Celtics were a home underdog. Boston is a perfect 10-0 ATS in those 10 games and 9-1 SU per the OddsShark NBA Database.
Philadelphia 76ers
Through the first 126 times in NBA history that a team took a 3-0 series lead, 78 of them went on to complete the sweep in Game 4. Philadelphia was able to avoid that fate with a 103-92 win, extending the series and covering the spread as 7-point favorites.
Despite having another lackluster night on offense, the 76ers were able to force Boston to turn the ball over 15 times en route to the win. The 76ers are 10-2 SU and 8-4 ATS in their last 12 games as a road favorite.
Wednesday’s total is set at 204 points. The OVER is 11-4 in Boston’s last 15 games.
No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit. If Philadelphia hopes to become the first, it will need its defense to keep Boston’s offense in check in Game 5, as so far in this series the 76ers offense has not shown the ability to keep up with the Celtics’ shooting.
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