Philadelphia 76ers (59-29) vs Boston Celtics (62-28)
Game Info: Friday, May 5, 2023 at 7:30 pm (Wells Fargo Center)
Betting Odds: Philadelphia 76ers +2.5 -- Over/Under: 214.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers do battle in a pivotal Game 3 at the Wells Fargo Center on Friday night.
The Boston Celtics will be feeling much better after squaring up the series at 1-1 with a dominant 121-87 win in Game 2 on Wednesday. Jaylen Brown led the team with 25 points on nine of 17 shooting, Malcolm Brogdon drained six 3-pointers to finish with 23 points off the bench while Marcus Smart and Derrick White scored 15 points apiece. As a team, the Celtics shot 46 percent from the field and a sizzling 20 of 51 from the 3-point line as they jumped all over the 76ers early to take the lead into halftime, before they dominated the third quarter by 35-16 to put the game to bed early. Al Horford scored just five points on two of 10 shooting while Jayson Tatum scored just seven points on one of seven shooting in just 19 minutes of action.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers will be going back to the drawing board after getting completely outplayed in Game 2 on Wednesday. Tobias Harris led the team in scoring with 16 points, Joel Embiid added 15 points with five blocks, Tyrese Maxey scored 13 points while James Harden chipped in with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. As a team, the 76ers shot just 39 percent from the field and six of 30 from the 3-point line as they defended well to hang in the contest until the third quarter where the Celtics ran away with it. Embiid was rushed back from injury and wasn’t nearly as impactful as he wanted to be, while Harden shot just two of 14 from the field and zero of six from the 3-point line.
Looking at the betting trends, the Celtics are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games, 8-1 ATS in their last nine games against a team with a winning record and 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games overall. The 76ers are 26-12 ATS in their last 38 home games, 6-1-1 ATS in their last eight games against a team with a winning record and 6-1-1 ATS in their last eight games overall.
Head to head, the under is 4-1 in the last five meetings overall and the Celtics are 6-1 ATS in the last seven meetings overall.
The Celtics are coming into this one with the same lineup, while the 76ers will be sweating on the availability of Joel Embiid who is currently listed as questionable for this one. The Celtics were able to level up the series with a dominant win on Wednesday and what made it more impressive was that they did it with Tatum scoring just seven points on one of seven shooting which I don’t think will happen again in this series. The 76ers’ role players will surely play a bit better at home, but they really need Harden to play more like he did in Game 1, especially if Embiid isn’t able to suit up. The Celtics are 6-1 ATS in the last seven meetings overall and I think that trend continues as the Celtics should be good enough to take the lead with a win here.
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Peter’s Pick Boston -2.5
AUTHOR: Peter Tran
Mitch's Take...
