The final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs and a date with the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers is on the line Thursday when the Indiana Pacers visit the Washington Wizards, who are favored on the NBA odds. The loser’s season is over.

How to Bet Pacers at Wizards NBA Odds & TV Info

• When: Thursday, 8 PM ET
• Where: Capital One Arena
• TV: TNT
• Stream: TNT app
• Radio:com

Season Series

The Wizards won all three games, each very high-scoring – neither club can play much defense. The teams last played on May 8 in Indianapolis and the Wizards prevailed 133-132 in overtime. Russell Westbrook finished with 33 points, 19 rebounds and 15 assists, and made two free throws with a second left. Bradley Beal scored 50 points. Domantas Sabonis had his own triple-double for the Pacers with 30 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists. Caris LeVert also flirted with a triple-double — 35 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists — for Indiana. Washington swept the Pacers for the first time since 2006-07.

Why Bet on Indiana? | Betting Odds for NBA

The Pacers were 1.5-point home favorites against Charlotte on Tuesday in the first play-in tournament game. Indiana got bad news before tipoff when it was reported that starting guard entered the league’s health and safety protocol. LeVert, 26, who is out for the next 10 to 14 days, was averaging 24.8 points, 7.4 assists and 4.9 rebounds over the past 10 games. LeVert landed in Indiana after he was traded by the Brooklyn Nets as part of the James Harden deal back in January.

Indiana didn’t miss LeVert much on Tuesday as it blew the doors off the Hornets, 144-117. Doug McDermott scored 16 of his 21 points in the first quarter as the Pacers started 7 of 11 from 3-point range — a decisive flurry that put Charlotte in a big hole.

All-Star Domantas Sabonis had 14 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists. Oshae Brissett lead the Pacers in scoring with 23 points. Malcolm Brogdon, who was playing his first game since April 29 due to an injured hamstring, finished the game with 16 points and eight assists.

Indiana was getting wide-open looks and finished with more uncontested 3-pointers (13) than Charlotte had 3-pointers total (12). Indiana almost had as many uncontested field goals (36) as Charlotte had total field goals (43). The Pacers finished with 35 assists and had eight players in double figures.

Coach Nate Bjorkgren gave credit to the Pacers defense and energy in the first half.

“I liked the energy we had, especially on the defensive end. In the first half of that game, I thought our team defense was very well connected. I thought we were very physical. I thought we were very good on the glass, especially in that first half. But just overall, the way that the guys competed tonight and the movement and the way they shared it on the offensive end, it was good to be a part of.”

Why Bet on Washington? | Betting Odds for NBA

The Wizards were 2-point underdogs on Tuesday at Boston and lost 118-100 as Celtics star Jayson Tatum dominated with 50 points. Tatum scored 32 of his 50 points in the second half as Boston rallied. The Celtics went into the break trailing by two, and ended the third quarter up by 10. From there, they largely coasted to victory.  Kemba Walker added 29 points for Boston, which secured the seventh seed for the playoffs and a first-round matchup with second-seeded Brooklyn.

Russell Westbrook tallied 20 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, three steals, two blocks, and four turnovers in 37 minutes. He didn’t look like himself in Tuesday night’s loss and waked to the locker room with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, which raised questions as to his health. In the press conference following the loss, Westbrook said that he had some “bumps and bruises” but that he would “be alright.”

Bradley Beal, who finished second in the NBA in scoring during the regular season, said he was less than 100 percent with a hamstring injury and by his usual lofty standards, Beal was quiet against the Celtics, finishing with 22 points on 10-for-25 shooting from the floor. Sharpshooter Davis Bertans had just four points on 0-for-7 shooting from three. As a team, the Wizards shot 3-of-21 from three-point land.

The Wizards came into Tuesday’s game leading the NBA in free-throw makes (20.1) and attempts (26.2). They fell short in both of those categories with 17 made free throws on 20 attempts.

We had a bad game, there’s no question,” Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said postgame. “We haven’t had one of these in a long time. I think the last one was at Phoenix and that was almost two months ago. We’ll regroup – we’ve got a lot of confidence that our guys are going to bounce back. That’s what I love about this group, we’ve got that bounce-back ability that’s pretty good.”

Expert Prediction

• Wizards 122, Pacers 118

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