NBA Playoff Betting – (1) Hawks at (5) Wizards (Game 3)

Atlanta Hawks (-3.5, 199 o/u) at Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards (46-36, 29-12 Home) saw the Atlanta Hawks (60-22, 25-16 Away) even their Eastern Conference semifinal series in Game 2 on Tuesday, but that wasn’t the worst part of their night; star point guard John Wall missed the game due to five non-displaced fractures in his left hand and wrist and the team’s leading scorer is now doubtful for the remainder of the playoffs. With or without Wall, the Wizards will be back in action tonight as they welcome the Hawks to the Verizon Center for Game 3 (5:00 PM Eastern).

Wall suffered the injury after taking a tumble in Game 1. “I knew when I fell on it,” Wall said. “You never know when you’ve got a lot of energy and power going down on the ground, so I thought I broke it. Kind of the same type of injury.”

The team doctors said Wall won’t be able to play in the rest of the series, but the point guard is seeking other opinions to see if he can handle the injury with some kind of protection.

The Hawks, meanwhile, are trying not to let the point guard’s status affect their preparation. “It’s dangerous, man,” said guard Kent Bazemore. “Oh, their best player is not playing, so they don’t have a chance. … But they still have a very dangerous team.”

Atlanta’s balanced attack was indeed able to get the better of the Wall-less Wizards in Game 2, though, led by 22 points from DeMarre Carroll and 18 apiece from Al Horford and Paul Millsap.

Atlanta has also had success in D.C. recently, going 10-5 SU in its last 15 on the road in Washington. With Wall out – or at half-capacity – look for the Hawks to take control of both Game 3 and the series.

Pick: Hawks -3.5.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)