Two NBA Nukes in Pivotal Eastern Conference Playoff Race Games

The NBA Eastern Confernece has been jam packed for much of the season so far, and the closer we get to the end of the year the more pivotal these games become. THREE GAMES separate the 5th seed and the 10th seed and three of the four teams playing in these two matchups are within that jumbled mess of teams. It's an exciting time to be watching the actual good matchups in the NBA and I want to get involved with ML wagers on two sides.

The Sixers are fully healthy again and starting to find their stride the last couple weeks. In their last two games they absolutely knucked up the Chicago Bulls at home and PUT UP 158 POINTS, and followed up that performance by getting a huge win on the road, beating a Charlotte team that has been one of the hottest in the entire Association.

Now they roll down to South Beach to face a Heat team on a 2-game losing streak and coming off BY FAR their worst loss of the year: A 17-point loss on the road to the PACERS yesterday. 

This line is ridiculous. The Heat have been mostly healthy for the last few weeks although they are without Norman Powell who has an illness. But played yesterday, lost to the taint-cheese Pacers and fly home today to barely be an underdog to a fully-healthy 76ers team? This is an unbelievable line and I want involved. 

The Boston Celtics have been rolling since Jayson Tatum has re-entered the fold. Not only have they climbed to second in the East and have distanced themselves from the rest of the teams fighting for position in the playoffs, their offense and defense are both performing at Top 5 rates in the league. They've won three straight games against top-tier teams, including the Thunder, the hot Hawks and Hornets last night. It's been straight domination from Joe Mazzula.

The Hawks and Celtics just met two games ago and Boston got the best of them in The Garden as short home favs. Now they meet again this time in Atlanta and the Hawks are 2.5-point favorites, up from 1.5 at open. 

This line tells me this is a clear tough spot for Boston traveling to Atlanta with the team being 8 games better and underdogs of almost three points. With Atlanta losing to them just two games ago and being favored this is a great spot to back the Hawks to get revenge on home court.