Boston Celtics vs. Washington Wizards: Game 5 Prediction, Betting Odds For 2017 NBA Playoffs

The fact that the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards are tied 2-2 in their second-round 2017 NBA playoff series might be considered somewhat deceiving. The Wizards have been the better team over the course of four games, and they’ve got a good chance to steal a victory on the road when they visit Boston Wednesday night in a pivotal Game 5.

The Game 5 betting odds don’t exactly reflect how much better Washington has been over four games. Boston is a 4.5-point favorite, via the betting odds at OddsShark, and the over/under is 215.5. Even though the Celtics have protected their home floor this series, a victory for the Wizards might be the smart Game 5 prediction, considering how well John Wall has played.

As much praise as Isaiah Thomas received during the regular season for leading the Celtics to the No.1 seed in the East, Wall has been the better player over the course of four games. He’s probably the best point guard in the conference, outperforming both Thomas and Kyle Lowry this postseason. Possibly a top-10 player in the entire NBA, Wall could be leading Washington to a matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals.

The 26-year-old has totaled a minimum of 20 points and eight assists in each game against Boston. He’s averaging 28.8 points and 11.1 assists for the entire playoffs, and Thomas has little chance to stop him on the defensive end.

Even though Boston took the first two games of the series, Wall nearly led Washington to victories in both Game 1 and Game 2. The Wizards led by as much as 17 points in the series opener before allowing the Celtics to take control in the second half, and Washington blew a seven-point fourth-quarter lead that resulted in a Game 2 loss.

In both of Boston’s wins, they’ve been able to make comebacks because of offensive outbursts by their point guard. If they hope to take a 3-2 series lead heading into Game 6, they’ll probably have to get another big performance out of Thomas.

The difference between Thomas’ numbers in Boston’s victories versus Boston’s losses this series has been staggering. He’s averaging 43 points per game in wins, including his 53-point performance in Game 2, which might be the most remarkable feat of this year’s postseason. In the next two games, he averaged just 16 points, as the Celtics lost by a total of 46 points.

But Thomas hasn’t gotten the consistent help that he’s needed from a second scorer. Al Horford is second on the team with 15.5 points per game this postseason, and he’s totaled 16 points or fewer in his last three games. Avery Bradley has done his best to stifle Bradley Beal on the defensive end, but he hasn’t contributed enough offensively. The shooting guard has scored just 26 total points in the last three contests.

Beal has still managed to score at least 27 points twice this series, despite Bradley’s defensive efforts. When he didn’t contribute much offense in Game 3, Otto Porter Jr. picked up the slack with 19 points of his own.

Unless the Celtics can ride the energy brought by their home fans to a Game 5 victory, the first four games of the series indicate that they could have trouble Wednesday night.

Prediction: Washington over Boston, 120-111