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The Boston Celtics return home for their Eastern Conference playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks looking for a 3-2 lead on Wednesday night and are favored to get it on the NBA odds.

How to Bet Bucks at Celtics NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Wednesday, 7 PM ET
Where: TD Garden
TV: TNT
Stream: TNT App
Radio: Tunein.com
NBA Odds: Celtics -5.5 (total 214.5)

Why Bet on Milwaukee?

The Bucks faded late in Game 4, losing 116-108 at home. Milwaukee was up by 11 late in the third quarter. Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 34 points and added 18 boards and five assists. He took full advantage of Robert Williams’ absence with his most rebounds against Boston all season. The Greek Freak is averaging 32 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in the series.

Brook Lopez managed 17 points with seven rebounds. Lopez provided his highest point total of the series and found himself on the receiving end of some easy feeds in the paint from Jrue Holiday. Through four games against Boston, Lopez is averaging 9.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks.

Holiday had 16 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. He was good as a rebounder and facilitator but struggled mightily as a scorer, shooting a pedestrian 5-of-22 from the floor and 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. It was a disappointing effort on offense after he scored 25 in Game 3 and hit the go-ahead bucket in the final seconds. Holiday is averaging 21.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.8 steals in the series.

The Bucks remain without All-Star guard Khris Middleton due to a knee in jury suffered in Round 1 and he won’t play in Game 5 or most likely this entire series. Middleton has a history of going off in key games and at key junctures, especially during last year’s championship run, and it’s arguably where the Bucks miss him most now. The Bucks shot just 41.5 percent from the field on Monday, and they were outscored by the Celtics 43-28 in the fourth quarter.

Grayson Allen has not held up well on defense and the Celtics have hunted him with regularity when he’s out there. The Bucks are now minus-24 overall in his minutes during this series. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are a combined 8-of-14 shooting against Allen. Head coach Mike Budenholzer doesn’t have the confidence to close with him as he’s turned to Pat Connaughton in the last two games.

Why Bet on Boston?

Through the first three quarters of Game 3, Celtics had only shot 28-of-71 (39.4 percent) from the field and 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from 3-point range. The fact that they were trailing by single digits despite such mediocre clips gave the C’s hope that they could turn the game around. In the fourth, they scored 43 points, tying the franchise playoff record for most points in a fourth quarter, while shooting 16-of-19 from the field, 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and 7-for-7 from the free-throw line – that calculates to a blistering true shooting clip of 97.4 percent.

Marcus Smart, Al Horford, and Jayson Tatum combined for 37 points while shooting 15-of-17 from the field, including 4-of-4 from long range in the quarter.

“Through all the mistakes we made, through all the buckets they hit, the free-throws we gave up, the turnovers, the game was only a seven-point game,” said Smart, who tallied 18 points, eight assists, and two blocks. “So that was very encouraging on our end because we knew we could play better. We knew that once we did play better, things would be turned around for us, and that’s what we did. We stayed together, we stayed to the game plan, and we just continued to fight.”

Tatum finished Monday’s victory with 30 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Tatum shot just 11-of-24 from the floor and 3-of-10 from deep, but it was certainly a step up from the 4-of-19 shooting performance he put forth in Saturday’s loss. It was Tatum’s first 30-point game in the Eastern Conference semis.

Al Horford had perhaps the playoff game of his life with 30 points on 11-for-14 shooting along with eight rebounds and three assists. The 35-year-old veteran turned back the clock and willed the Celtics to victory. Horford received little help from Daniel Theis and Grant Williams, yet powered through a season-high 42 minutes of run. His 30 points were a career playoff high.

Milwaukee center Brook Lopez often chose not to guard Horford on the perimeter and Horford made him pay with five made three-pointers. Horford also had the play of the game in the fourth when he pump-faked Giannis Antetokounmpo outside the arc, drove for a huge dunk, and drew a foul from the Greek Freak. The C’s scored a series-best 48 points in the paint.

Smart said the Horford dunk is what gave the Celtics the emotional boost they needed to get through what had become a hard-fought game.

“It’s a big-time play in a big-time moment,” Smart said. “It’s a physical game. We were on the other end a couple times, so it felt kind of good to have that one.”

Horford became just the 22nd player age 35 or older to hang 30 in the playoffs, and the first Celtic to do it since John Havlicek did it 45 years ago. With starting center Robert Williams III sidelined by left knee soreness, and with most of the Celtics misfiring against Milwaukee’s defense, head coach Ime Udoka needed more from Horford. He responded. It’s not clear if Robert Williams will play Wednesday.

Game Trends

Bucks are 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Bucks are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 road games.
Bucks are 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 games following a straight up loss.
Celtics are 19-7-1 ATS in their last 27 games overall.
Celtics are 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 games following a ATS win.
Celtics are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games as a favorite.
Bucks are 1-9-1 ATS in the last 11 meetings.