NBA Betting Tips: Celtics eyeing closeout victory

There’s more NBA action to enjoy on Wednesday night, as the Boston Celtics have the chance to close out their series against the Miami Heat (00:30), while the first-round Western Conference match-up between the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks (03:00) is tied at two games apiece.

Those two matches are the focus of my NBA betting tips for Wednesday, and I’ve outlined a selection for both encounters below.

Boston Celtics -14.5 vs Miami Heat @ 1/1

We start with a decisive game five between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat at TD Garden, live on TNT Sports 1.

The top-seeded Celtics took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with a 102-88 victory in Miami on Monday. However, the C’s will have to cope without Kristaps Porzingis in game five, who has been ruled out through injury, and the former Knicks star has been a revelation for Boston since signing in the offseason.

Miami will continue to be without the services of their talisman Jimmy Butler, who sustained an MCL injury in the play-in tournament loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Heat have sorely missed him during this series. Miami were able to steal a victory in game two to avoid a sweep, but their offense has completely dried up, failing to break 90 points in any of the last two matches – and they were both at home.

A gentleman’s sweep remains on for Boston, and with them being at home here, I can see why the spread is so big at 14.5. The Celtics lost just four matches during the regular season at TD Garden, and although the Heat never go down without a fight under the stewardship of Erik Spoelstra, they’ll need to be perfect here to keep this game competitive.

I’m taking the Celtics to cover the spread here, and they have a 92.3% chance to win this game based on the implied probability of the money line.

Dallas Mavericks -3.5 vs Los Angeles Clippers @ 10/11

The Dallas Mavericks will travel to LA to take on the Clippers in a pivotal game five match-up on Wednesday night, with the series currently tied at 2-2.

The sides split a pair of games in Los Angeles and another two in Dallas, and we now head back to the City of Angels to see who can gain an advantage before game six on Saturday.

Clippers star Kawhi Leonard has been ruled out for tonight’s showdown due to inflammation in the knee, which could be a blessing in disguise as LA have won both games that Leonard has sat. His teammates James Harden and Paul George have thrived against the Mavericks in his absence, with each posting their two highest-scoring games of the series in the games that he’s missed.

Sitting out doesn’t appear to be an option for Dallas star Luka Doncic who sprained his knee in the first quarter of game three, but he’s been playing through the injury ever since, currently averaging 29 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists so far this series.

Despite coming off a loss, the Mavericks seem primed to cover the spread and grab a win in this one. They have looked the better team throughout this series, apart from a couple of shaky first quarters, almost amassing double-digit comebacks in both of their losses.

Leonard will be a huge miss for the Clippers, which hands the advantage to Dallas in my opinion.

Check out the rest of our NBA Betting Tips here.