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The first half of the playoffs followed the script of the regular season for the Boston Celtics as they underachieved. They broke out in a big way after intermission and hope it’s a sign of things to come. The Celtics have a 1-0 lead on the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the NBA playoffs and hope to take control of the series next time out.
The Pacers’ offense went in the tank in the final two quarters and the team needs to find a way to score efficiently to have a shot at evening up this series. The oddsmakers believe the Celtics are NBA Finals contenders despite a bumpy regular season and Boston showed its high-end potential last time out.
The Celtics will be favored to claim this game as well in NBA gambling.
This NBA basketball game between the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics will be held at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 17th, 2019. The game will be nationally televised on TNT.
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Odds Analysis
These teams finished within one game of each other in the regular season standings but Boston is the clear favorite to win this series. The Celtics are listed as 7.5-point favorites to capture Game 2. They are -335 on the moneyline while the Pacers come in at +271. The scoring total is listed at 203 points as the first game was a defensive battle and it could be much of the same in this one.
Boston covered the spread and the “under” was the correct call in Game 1. We will see how Game 2 between the Pacers and Celtics turns out in NBA wagering.
Last Time Out
Indiana held a seven-point lead at halftime of Game 1 but Boston outscored the Pacers 26-8 in the third quarter and cruised to the win. Indiana managed only 29 points in the second half and shot just 33 percent from the floor.
The Pacers have good balance, but the season-ending injury to Victor Oladipo midway through the regular season sapped the team of its go-to scorer. That was evident in this one, and Indiana must figure out how to attack Boston’s tough defense to have a shot at the upset in Game 2.
Kyrie Irving had 20 points to lead the Celtics, who didn’t shoot particularly well themselves but made enough from three-point range to pull away.
Key Stat
55. That’s the number of rebounds the Celtics pulled down in Game 1, compared to only 42 for the Pacers. Indiana is not as talented as Boston offensively and must be able to hold its own on the boards.
Al Horford led the way with 11 rebounds for Boston last time out and several other players had seven. This is a slow-down game so the Pacers need to concentrate on rebounding as a group since fast-breaks aren’t going to be a common occurrence.
Indiana can’t go shot for shot with the Celtics so it has to do the little things, and that wasn’t the case in Game 1.
Free NBA ATS Picks
The Pacers had some good moments during the regular season but struggled down the stretch and it was more of the same on Sunday. Indiana does not have the offensive talent to score consistently against the Celtics.
Boston will take a commanding 2-0 lead in this series by winning the next game as well, and it will cover the spread. This is a mismatch in Boston and the Celtics will flex their muscles once again. The “over” is a good choice because Boston should be able to score more than expected in NBA betting lines.
NBA ATS Pick: Boston Celtics 108, Indiana Pacers 99
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