NBA Playoff Play-In Tournament: Wizards Vs. Pacers Preview
Published May 20, 2021 by Sol FH
The very first NBA Play-In Tournament for the final 2021 playoff spots, continues tonight at 1:00 GMT.
The Washington Wizards are now in a win-or-go-home situation against the Indiana Pacers tonight, after suffering an embarrassing loss to the Boston Celtics in their first game of the 2021 Play-In Tournament.
The winner of the Wizards vs Pacers gets the 8th seed and a best-of-seven series berth against the 76ers. The loser gets a lottery pick and the chance to brush up on their golf skills.
The Wizards were on fire for the last six weeks, but, in their most important game of the season, they had their worst game in weeks, except for a few players. Ish Smith had 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block in 26 minutes. His total contribution was worth 41 of the Wizards’ 100.
Russell Westbrook had 20 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. It wasn’t his best performance but he was able to contribute a total of 26 directly and indirectly. Daniel Gafford had 12 points on 7 shots with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in 21 minutes.
No other Washington player was able to break into double digits in the value of their production.
The biggest story of the night was Boston's Jayson Tatum who burned the Wizards with 50 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, and 2 blocks.
Basically, if the Wizards have a similar night against the Pacers, they will be on the golf course by next week.
The Wizards should beat the Pacers, whom they swept 3-0 in the season. This is a home game and the Wizards have been better than the Pacers all season.
NBA Odds & Betting
At bet365 Sports the Wizards are favored to win at 1.64, while the Pacers are at 2.35. bet365 will be offering live in-play odds throughout the action.
The odds in this article at the bookmaker mentioned above were accurate at the time of writing, May 20 at 10:45.
