What To Know Before Betting Wizards-Celtics Play-In Tournament Game

The eight-seed Washington Wizards travel to take on the seven-seed Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. The winner of the game will secure the seventh seed and a spot in the playoffs, while the loser will take on the winner of the Hornets-Pacers for another chance in keeping their season alive.

The Breakdown For The Celtics: A favorite to make it out of the East in the preseason, Boston has drastically underperformed and now find themselves in the play-in tournament, a spot that seemed wild back in December. Boston has dealt with injuries all season long, like missing Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart for long stretches this season. Their biggest injury, however, occurred recently as they lost first-time All-Star Jaylon Brown to a season-ending ankle injury.

Boston’s success in this game will hinder on if Walker can return to All-Star form and if they can stop the backcourt of the Wizards. Boston has a plethora of players questionable for Tuesday’s matchup, including Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, Kemba Walker, Robert Williams, Evan Fournier and Tristan Thompson.

Overs are 6-0 in Boston’s last six home games.

The Breakdown For The Wizards: After a slow start to the season, no one thought the Wizards had any chance to make the playoffs, but they proved doubters wrong. The biggest reason for their success comes from their backcourt of Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal.

Westbrook averaged a triple-double for the fourth time while Beal finished second in the scoring title. The Wizards did lose starting center Thomas Bryant early in the season, but they've managed to rebound nicely behind the play of Rui Hachimura. Washington will be playing this game without rookie Deni Avdija, who is out for the season with an ankle injury.

The Wizards are 6-0 against the spread in their last six games as underdogs.

The Bottom Line: This game will be decided by which team’s superstar players will play better. Will Tatum and Walker be able to keep up with the scoring of the Wizard’s backcourt and will Westbrook and Beal manage to limit turnovers against a good Boston defense? The odds for Tuesday’s matchup are listed below: