The NBA Playoffs continue on Wednesday night and I will have a free pick in Game 5 between the Washington Wizards and the Atlanta Hawks, which will take place at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The game has a start time of 8:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on TNT. Current Vegas betting odds have the Hawks listed as 9 point favorites, while the total is set at 199.5.
Analysis: The Washington Wizards made a furious comeback in game 4 on Monday Night, but they just couldn't pull out the win in the 106-101 loss. They are showing that they can play without Wall, but I have to feel that the deeper the series goes, the more they will miss him. This may now be Atlanta's series to take. Washington has gone 20-25 on the road this year. Washington is 8-2-1 ATS in their last 11 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, but just 6-24-2 ATS in their last 32 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game and 4-21-1 ATS in their last 26 games following a ATS loss. The Wizards have scored 95.3 ppg on 45.1% shooting overall and 34.5% from long range on the road this year. Defensively they have allowed 99.3 ppg on 44.2% shooting overall and 37.0% shooting from long range away from home.
The Atlanta Hawks came into the playoffs as the top seed in the East, but they really struggled with the Nets and then found themselves down 2-1 vs Washington, but with their backs against the wall they pulled out the 106-101 win on Monday night in Washington. The Hawks have now grabbed back home court advantage in this series and with Wall out for Washington they just may be in position to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals. Atlanta has gone 39-7 SU at home for the year. The Hawks are 24-10-1 ATS in their last 35 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, but just 4-13-1 ATS in their last 18 Conference Semifinals games. The Hawks scored 103.3 ppg on 46.9% shooting overall and 37.9% shooting from long range at home this year. Defensively they allowed 95.0 ppg on 44.0% shooting overall and 33.7% shooting from long range at home for the year.
Pick: I am gonna go with the Wizards to keep this one close. They did trail big at home in game 4, but made a late comeback and lost by just 5 points. The do need John Wall in there, but this team is rather deep and have played pretty well in the games he has missed in this series for the most part. Atlanta has been pushed by Washington in this series and I see it happening once again. Hawks by no more than 5 here.
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