The No. 5 Washington Wizards (6-2 SU, 6-2 ATS) look to stay hot on the road when they visit the No. 1 Atlanta Hawks (6-4 SU, 4-6 ATS) Wednesday in Game Five of their Eastern Conference semifinal. You can watch the game live on TNT.
You can’t say the Wizards didn’t have a chance to take a commanding lead in the series. Paul Pierce, who hit the game-winning shot Saturday, had a wide-open look for a game-tying three pointer with fewer than 10 seconds left and the Wizards lost for the first time on its home floor this postseason. Playing on the road hasn’t been a problem for the Wiz going 8-2 in the last two postseasons and 9-1 ATS.
Bouncing back from a buzzer-beating loss Saturday, the Hawks evened the series at 2-2 with a 106-101 win on Monday and now have homecourt advantage in what has become a best-of-three series. Atlanta looked a bit more like a No. 1 seed than a team that’s been only so-so in the playoffs and head home where the Hawks have lost just seven times in 46 games this season.
KEY INJURY
Wizards point guard John Wall missed his third straight playoff game Monday and is unlikely to return in this series, though reports from the Wizards say his recovery is “headed in the right direction.” Wall suffered five fractures in his non-shooting hand and wrist in Game One.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“To me, personally, I think this is the best we’ve played all series. Thirty assists, the way we played defense, the we stepped up, the way we helped each other, the way we moved the basketball, the way we set screens.” – Hawks forward Paul Millsap
BETTING TRENDS
- Washington is 7-2 ATS in its last nine road games.
- Atlanta is 9-5 ATS in its last 14 home games.
- The OVER is 9-2 in Washington’s last 11 games overall.
KEY STATS
10: The Wizards made 12 three-pointers Monday and have made 10 or more threes seven times in nine postseason games after reaching double figures in threes seven times during the regular season.
43: Atlanta’s All-Star quartet of Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap, Al Horford and Kyle Korver combined for 43 points in the first half Monday, only one fewer than they totaled in all of Game Three.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Paul Pierce had too much time and space on Monday to keep the Hawks from pulling even in the series. With a wide-open look for the potential game-tying three-pointer, his shot clanked off the iron and the Hawks held on. Two days after being the hero with a buzzer-beating bank shot, Pierce couldn’t do it again and the teams are even in their best-of-seven series that is now a best-of-three. Bradley Beal did his best to lead the Wizards pumping in a playoff career-high 34 points but Ramon Sessions, starting in place of John Wall, struggled.
Overcoming something that had Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll not looking like themselves Saturday, the Hawks were, from the start of Game Four, back to being the free-flowing, ball-moving, regular season version of the Hawks, the squad that won 60 games, rather than the disjointed, disorganized bunch that had its struggles during the postseason. Now they need to continue playing that way and with Jeff Teague having a monster game the Hawks are in a good spot to take control of this series. “That’s how we play, that’s how we’ve been playing all year. Things we didn’t do pretty much all series, we did tonight,” Paul Millsap said.
It’s hard not to miss your best player and when others don’t make up for his absence it’s tough to win. The Wizards covered for John Wall Saturday, despite blowing a 21-point fourth quarter lead, and got the win. They didn’t Monday with Ramon Sessions and Marcin Gortat the biggest culprits. The loss of Wall also weakens the Wizards bench giving the Hawks an even bigger edge in that area. Atlanta played its best game of the series Monday and carries the momentum of that performance into Game Five on Wednesday.
Atlanta 108, Washington 100
The NBA lines for this contest will first be released by BookMaker sportsbook. Minute-by-minute spreads, totals and props are available for this game using the live betting platform at BookMaker.
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks square off on Wednesday, May 13, 2015, at 8 p.m. ET at Philips Arena. The contest will be broadcast nationally on TNT.
