Indiana at Boston

Boston has a big edge in talent and athleticism. They were inconsistent at times, but played well down the stretch winning six of eight to edge out Indiana for the No. 4 seed and home court for this series. That included a win at Indiana last week, holding the Pacers to 97 points and 41.3% shooting. Indiana scored 47 first-half points at home in that game and now has to travel to Boston. The Pacers can play great defense, tops in the NBA in points allowed, sixth in field goal shooting defense. But the offense is #22 in points scored and leading scorer Victor Oladipo (18.8 ppg) is out for the year after suffering a knee injury. The Pacers are on a 7-16 ATS run on the road, 4-12 ATS away against teams with a winning home record. Boston is also great on defense, eighth in points allowed, fourth in field goal shooting defense, sixth at defending beyond the arc. The Celtics are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 Conference Quarterfinals games. Back the home team for the game and look for all-out defense by both teams in the first half. Play Boston and the first-half UNDER.