Atlanta at Washington

A lot of the higher seeded NBA playoff teams are feeling the heat and not playing well at crunch time. Atlanta is the No. 1 seed in the East, but trails this series 2-1. Atlanta power forward Paul Millsap struggled in Game 3 with just eight points and two rebounds while plagued with flu-like symptoms and is just 14-of-39 shooting in the series. Atlanta is on a 3-8-1 ATS run, 1-4-1 ATS on the road, plus 3-13-1 ATS in its last 17 Conference Semifinal games. Both teams can play defense and will here with so much at stake. Atlanta ranks fifth in the NBA in points allowed, Washington ranks ninth. And during the regular season, the Hawks were No. 6 in field goal shooting defense, the Wizards No. 2. Atlanta is 5-2 UNDER the total following a spread loss. Washington has been in command of much of this series, leading by 21 points with under 10 minutes to play in Game 3. Paul Pierce banked in a jumper at the buzzer to give Washington a 103-101 victory on Saturday, and the fifth-seeded Wizards now have a chance to take a commanding lead. Look for a fierce defensive battle and grab home court as the home team is 4-1-1 ATS in the last six meetings, and the Hawks are 2-5-2 ATS at Washington. As a favorite Atlanta is 46-20 to the first-half UNDER this season. They are also 27-15 UNDER in the first half when the total is set between 95.5 and 100.5, and 25-13 UNDER in the first-half when facing a winning team. Play Washington and the first-half and full-game UNDERs in this one.