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The defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks can move one step closer to repeating and reach the Eastern Conference Finals by beating the visiting Boston Celtics in Game 6 of their series on Friday night. The Bucks are short favorites on the NBA odds.

How to Bet Celtics at Bucks NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Friday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Fiserv Forum
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN app
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: Bucks -1.5 (total 211)

Why Bet on Boston?

The Celtics should be up 3-2 in this series but managed to blow a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 5 and lose 110-107. The Celtics offense went cold at the wrong time and the Bucks began dominating the offensive boards. With just over 30 seconds left in the game, the Celtics were up 107-105. Over those next 30 seconds, the Bucks outscored them 5-0, overwhelming the Celtics with offensive rebounds and suffocating defense. Boston did not trail for 11:49 seconds of the fourth quarter and still lost.

The Celtics had eight turnovers in the second half, including five in the fourth quarter. The first four turnovers directly resulted in the Bucks scoring 10 points. The last resulted in the Bucks running out the remaining second or so on the clock.

Boston players know that they outplayed the Bucks for 85 percent of the game and that they just let one slip away. And they also know that this series is far from over, especially given their track record of bouncing back this season.

“It’s not a series-ending loss,” head coach Ime Udoka stated. “We have a chance to go make up for it … It’s going to be tougher now. We gotta go get two in a row. But what we’ve done throughout the series and throughout the season is bounce back when we’ve been tested, and even in this series. It was an opportunity tonight but gotta go to Milwaukee, take it one game at a time, and try to bring it back here.”

Jayson Tatum hit 12-of-29 shots and 8-of-9 free throws for 34 points with six rebounds and four assists. Tatum has had his struggles in this matchup, shooting 38% from the field for 22.5 points coming into Wednesday and still wasn’t great from the field

Jaylen Brown put together an outstanding individual performance. He tied for the team high in both rebounds (eight) and assists (six), and he also poured in 26 points on an efficient 9-for-19 shooting night. Brown was Boston’s top offensive player in the game, and in particular, during the third quarter. He tallied 16 points during that frame alone by canning six of his 10 shot attempts. Brown has now scored at least 26 points during three of the last four games of the series.

The Celtics played a second straight game without starting center Robert Williams with a sore knee and he’ll likely be a game-time call for Friday. Grant Williams has been starting in his place.

Why Bet on Milwaukee?

The Bucks finished Game 5 on an 11-2 run over the final 1:40 and stole the win away from the Celtics thanks to a huge Bobby Portis offensive rebound off a missed Giannis Antetokounmpo free throw. Marcus Smart couldn’t corral the miss or box out the Milwaukee forward, and Portis put in a layup to give the Bucks a 108-107 lead with 11.4 seconds left. It was Milwaukee’s first lead since the second quarter.

“Playoffs are all about moments,” said Portis, who finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds. “It’s not about how many shots you make. It’s not about how many points you score. It’s about moments. We got a lot of guys on this team that can have moments.”

The Celtics should have stolen back the lead on their next possession. Marcus Smart gained a step on Pat Connaughton and drove to the basket, using his body as a shield to rise up for a potential game-winning layup. However, Jrue Holiday had a spectacular block. Then for good measure, he tiptoed along the baseline and threw the ball off Smart and out of bounds to retain possession for Milwaukee. On the final possession of the game, Holiday stole the ball from Smart.

To fuel their comeback, the Bucks shot a perfect 6-for-6 from beyond the 3-point line in the final quarter, tied for the most such makes without a miss in the fourth quarter of a playoff game in the past 25 years.

Antetokounmpo had his second 40-point game of the series in Game 5 as he scored 40 points and hauled in 11 rebounds, marking the sixth 40/10 game of his postseason career. Holiday has hit the 20-point mark in three of five games this series after putting up 24 points with eight rebounds and eight assists in Game 5. After averaging 16.4 points per game in the First Round, Holiday is now averaging 21.8 points, in addition to 7.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game against the Celtics.

Connaughton extended his playoff-career-long streak of scoring in double figures to four games after putting up 13 points. Connaughton has now reached double figures in five of his last six games and is averaging 12.7 points over his past six.

The winner of Game 5 in a best-of-seven series tied at two has gone on to win the series 82% of the time in NBA postseason history.