The NBA and the NHL Playoffs keep rolling along with two mouth-watering games coming your way tonight. Opening festivities tonight is the Game 3 showdown between the Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics. Then, it’s Game 5 between San Jose and Los Angeles with the Sharks looking to end their Western Conference quarterfinals series once and for all.
Line: Atlanta Hawks (+3) at Boston Celtics (-3); total: 200.5 – view all NBA lines
The Atlanta Hawks will head to Boston with momentum on their side after thrashing the Celtics, 89-72, in Game 2 of their best-of-seven series on Tuesday night. Four players scored in double-figures for the Hawks who now possess a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Kyle Korver led the way for the Hawks with 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Key to Atlanta’s victory was its timely outside shooting. They shot 37.9 percent (11-of-29) from beyond the arc in Game 2, a large improvement from their 19.2 percent three-point shooting clip in the previous game.
It was Boston who struggled from deep in Game 2, with the Celtics nailing just five of their 28 three-point attempts. The onus then is on Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart to get their perimeter game going in Game 3. Boston’s starting backcourt shot a combined 2-of-12 with the long ball on Tuesday.
The Celtics are 7-3 SU and 6-4 ATS in their last 10 home games against the Hawks.
Click here for an in-depth breakdown of this game.
Writer’s Prediction
Atlanta (-3) piles more misery on Boston with a 99-94 win.
San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings (10:30 PM ET)
Line: San Jose Sharks (+115) at Los Angeles Kings (-135); total: 5.0 – view all NHL lines
The San Jose Sharks moved to within a victory of reaching their first Western Conference semifinal in four years after beating the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2, in Game 4 on Wednesday night. Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau scored the winning goals for the Sharks who became the first team to win at home in this series.
Key to the Sharks’ dominance has been their excellent play on the power play. In their three wins in this series thus far, they have scored five goals with the man-advantage. The Kings, on the other hand, struggled in that department in Game 4, going scoreless in five power-play opportunities. For the Kings to extend their season tonight, they will need Tyler Toffoli to break out from his goal-scoring funk. Toffoli, who scored a team-high 31 goals this season, has yet to find the back of the net in this series.
The Sharks are 4-0 in their last four road games against the Kings.
