When it comes to professional sports of any kind, there is always an advantage to be gained by playing in your own building. There is a feeling of familiarity when playing there, not to mention the fact that the fans can make it feel as though you have an extra man on your team. The Boston Celtics were the surprise number 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, ensuring that they would have home court advantage all the way to the NBA Finals, assuming of course that they were able to make it that far. While they were not particularly convincing against the Bulls in the opening round, Boston appear to have found their groove, and head to Washington with a 2-0 series lead after winning their opening two games of the series at home. The Wizards are certainly under some pressure now, and will probably need to win both of their home games if they are to make a series of this one. Game 3 will tip-off at the Verizon Center in Washington on Thursday night. Find the latest NBA betting lines here.

Here’s A Closer Look At The Celtics At Wizards NBA Game 3 Expert Picks

When: Thursday, May 4 at 8 PM EST Where: Verizon Center, Washington TV: ESPN, SPORTSNET OME Radio: WFED-AM 1500, The Fan 106.7 FM, 98.5 The Sports HUB Live Stream: Watch NBA NBA Odds: Washington Wizards -5½ (-110)    

Why bet on the Boston Celtics

After the first two games of the opening round, the Celtic found themselves down 2-0 and needing to go on the road versus the Chicago Bulls. All the talk was that the Celtics were the worst #1 seed in recent memory, but that talk has died down somewhat after they went on to win 4-straight versus the Bulls, which they followed up by taking the first 2 games of this series versus the Wizards. It has been the Isaiah Thomas show over the past few nights, including a stellar 53-point effort in Game 2, which the Celtics won 129-119 in OT. No-one is getting too carried away just yet, though, as Boston lost both regular season games that they played in Washington this year.

Why bet on the Washington Wizards

The Wizards must be a little disappointed that they are not heading back to their own building with a split from the first 2 games, as Game 2 was an opportunity to win that they allowed to slip away. They will be well aware that this series is far from over, though, especially since they have yet to lose in their own building this postseason. The Wizards made it through to the second round after taking care of the Hawks in 6 games, and it was the performances from John Wall that helped make that happen. He was brilliant again in Game 2 of this series, but his exploits were overshadowed by what Thomas did. Washington need Wall to continue to step up big if they want to get back into this series.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

Even at 2-0, this series is far from done. Boston don’t need a win in Washington in order to win this series, and that may have them a little too relaxed for Game 3. I like the Wizards to take this one.

Boston Celtics 103 Washington Wizards 110