The Boston Celtics will try again on Wednesday night to eliminate the Orlando Magic in basketball playoffs betting. The Celtics had their chances on Monday but ended up losing in basketball betting to the Magic in overtime in Game 4. Now Boston will try and make sure the series doesn’t extend past a fifth game.
Basketball playoffs betting odds list the Magic as four-point favorites on Wednesday with a total of 186. Those odds are far different than the ones just two nights ago when Boston was a seven-point favorite in Game 4. No one has any idea what to expect on Wednesday night. The Magic were supposed to lie down and die on Monday but Dwight Howard had 32 points and 16 rebounds and Jameer Nelson made some big shots and the Magic live to play another day.
Howard had 32 points for Orlando while Paul Pierce had 32 points for Boston. Pierce got tired though as he was 0 for 4 in overtime. While Howard and Pierce were great there were a number of players in Game 4 who were not. Vince Carter has been terrible for Orlando. He missed eight of his nine shots. He turned the ball over and played no defense. Rashard Lewis scored 13 points but he was invisible most of the time. It is amazing in some respects that Orlando was able to win with Carter and Lewis playing poorly again. Plus the Magic made only 20 of their 33 free-throw attempts. Orlando won because Rajon Rondo had a rare off game and because the Celtics missed numerous chances to take control of the game. Now the series moves back to Orlando and the Magic are favored in basketball betting.
It should be noted that the Celtics have taken a 3-0 series lead a total of 10 times in their history. The Celtics won each of those series and none of them reached a sixth game. History is against Orlando but they are at home and they are favored on Wednesday night. Boston has covered the spread in their last four road games and they are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog. Orlando is 7-3-1 ATS in their last 11 games as a home favorite. Looking at the total, four of the last five Boston games have gone under while five of the last six Orlando games have gone under.