Wizards vs Celtics NBA Play-In Tournament Game

The winner of Tuesday night’s Eastern Conference play-in tournament game between the eighth-seeded Washington Wizards and No. 7 Boston Celtics goes right into the official playoff field as the No. 7 seed. Boston is a short home favorite on the NBA odds.

How to Bet Wizards at Celtics NBA Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 9 PM ET
Where: TD Garden
TV: TNT
Stream: TNT app
Radio:com

Season Series

Boston won two of three meetings. The teams last played on Feb. 28 in Boston and the Celtics prevailed 111-110. Jayson Tatum made two twisting, driving baskets in the final 15 seconds and finished with 31 points, leading the C’s to the comeback win despite Bradley Beal’s 46 points for Washington. Kemba Walker scored 21 for the Celtics, and Daniel Theis had 20 points and nine rebounds. Theis is now with Chicago. Russell Westbrook had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards, who led 110-105 after Beal’s driving basket with 47 seconds left.

Boston leads the last 17 games of the series 9-8, with three overtime games and 12 games decided by single digits.

Why Bet on Washington? | NBA Betting Odds

The Wizards began 0-5, went through a COVID-19 outbreak that sidelined players and caused a two-week hiatus for the club and then were 17-32 before finishing with a 17-7 flourish.

Washington (34-38) closed the season with a 115-110 win at home over Charlotte on Sunday. Bradley Beal returned after missing a couple of gamers with a strained left hamstring and had 25 points but was just 8-for-27 from the field. He opened the game 0-of-6 from the field and clearly wasn’t 100 percent. He called his decision to return and play against Charlotte a “hard-headed” one because he wasn’t fully healthy but did not want to let his teammates down.

“There’s no setbacks which is good,” said Beal, who finished second in the NBA in scoring. “I didn’t injure it any worse than what it was. Obviously it still probably won’t be 100 percent (Tuesday). It is just a matter of managing it as best I can.”

Russell Westbrook had 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. It was his 184th career triple-double — three more than Oscar Robertson’s previous NBA record — and 38th this season alone, the most in the league. Westbrook was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for games played in the month of May. Westbrook averaged 26.3 points, 16.1 assists and 13.8 rebounds per game.

From May 3-14, Westbrook tallied 15+ assists in seven-straight games, the longest streak of his career and in franchise history, as well as the longest in the league since John Stockton had eight straight in 1989. Westbrook finished the regular season as the league’s leader in assists at 11.7 per game to go along with averages of 22.2 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.

Washington (116.6) finished third in the league in scoring, its for the fourth time in five years finishing in the top 10 under Scott Brooks. Since 2016-17, Washington has finished fifth, 13th, 10th and seventh. The Wizards led the league with 1449 free throws made, or 20.1 per game.

Why Bet on Boston? | NBA Betting Odds

The Celtics were 96-92 losers at the Knicks on Sunday but rested a lot of guys. Boston cut a 21-point deficit to three in the final minutes, but Nerlens Noel had two big blocked shots before Julius Randle hit a free throw to close the scoring.

Boston sat Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier, Marcus Smart, Tristan Thompson and Robert Williams to rest for that game. Jaylen Brown was already lost for the season after wrist surgery. Most of those guys should play Tuesday except for Brown. He enjoyed a breakout season, averaging 24.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game for the Celtics.

Tremont Waters was the most impactful player of the game, as Boston outscored New York by 20 points while he was on the floor. He was especially impactful during the fourth quarter, when he piled up 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting. The speedy point guard set a new career high with 17 points. That point total was accompanied by five rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Williams (toe) was able to practice on Monday, but Brad Stevens is expecting Williams to be a game-time decision for Tuesday’s game. He’s essentially a 50-50 call right now, but him practices is an encouraging sign. His status will likely depend on how he responds to the increased workload and how he looks at shootaround, but if he’s not able to give it a go, that’ll mean more run for Thompson and Luke Kornet.

Over their last 15 games, Washington has gone 10-5, which is one of the better marks in the league. Boston, on the other hand, has gone just 5-10 over its last 15 games.

The loser Tuesday will have to play the winner of the 9 vs. 10 play-in game between the Indiana Pacers and Charlotte Hornets. The winner of that contest will be the East’s eighth seed and face the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in the first round.