Philadelphia at Boston – Game 5
Boston Leads 3-1
Time: 7 PM CT (TNT)
Spread: BOS -1
Total: 204.5
Odds c/o 5dimes
The Philadelphia 76ers are not just lying down to die. Philly won Game 4 in Philadelphia to draw the series to 3-1 but is still attempting to become the first team in NBA history to emerge as victors after losing the first three games of a best-of-seven.
Tonight sees the home team Celtics as 1-point favorites as Ben Simmons attempts to build on an impressive rookie season and send the series back to the City of Brotherly love. The tip-off will be at 7 PM (CT) on TNT, and the betting total for the game is 204.5 points according to NBA oddsmakers at 5dimes.
Philly has been something of a letdown for most of this series, particularly to yours truly, as a Philly sweep was predicted in the series preview. It is a more talented team than Boston on paper, but games are not played on paper, and Brad Stevens has impressively coached Boston to play a nearly flawless brand of basketball. His masterful play to free up Al Horford for the go-ahead bucket in Game 3 will go down in history, as disastrous as the ending really was for the Sixers in its own right. Confetti fell from the arena early, just to see the Sixers lose in Overtime.
Game 4 brought out the best in several Sixers, though, and if that continues this series may not end tonight. Dario Saric led the way for Philadelphia with 25 points after having some struggles through the first three games. TJ McConnell, also, was a hero in playing 39 minutes and finishing with a +18 mark for his time on the court. McConnell shot 9 of 12 from the field and finished with 19 points, eight boards and five assists— showing that the Sixers can thrive if Ben Simmons is taken away from the 1-spot.
Expect McConnell to continue to factor huge, as his grit and determination were enough to hold Terry Rozier of the Celtics to just 4 of 11 shooting. Boston shot just 41.3 percent in the game and turned the ball over 15 times, while the Sixers were just 40 percent itself, it limited its miscues to only eight.
This game will ultimately come down to a matter of whether Philly can slow Bostons wing players while getting maximum production again from its unsung heroes. Joel Embiid has struggled badly from the field against Horford’s defensive efforts, and the Sixers are going to have to get production aside from Embiid and Simmons to win this series.
That was what made Game 4 a Sixers win, and the formula must be continued. As of the time of issue, 64 percent of bettors on Covers are favoring the Celtics.
ATS TRENDS
| Philadelphia | |
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| Boston | |
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