NBA Playoffs
Eastern Conference - Semifinals
Tip-off: Wednesday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: Atlanta -8.0, Total: 199.5

The Hawks and Wizards battle for a lead in this series when they meet in Atlanta for Game 5 on Wednesday. The Wizards blew their chance of going up 3-1 in the series with a 106-101 loss at home in Game 4 on Monday. The team turned the ball over 16 times and will need to take better care of the ball on Wednesday. The Hawks have dominated the Wizards at Philips Arena over the years, winning-and-covering in three of their past four meetings there. Game 2 of this series went Under the total and that was the first time a game between these teams went Under in Atlanta since Mar. 16, 2012. The Wizards are 9-1 against the spread in road games in the playoffs over the past two seasons, but they are up against a Hawks team that is 19-7 against the spread off of a road win on the year. The key factor in determining who will win this game is going to be the health of PG John Wall (Wrist). Wall is questionable for this one and if he does not play then the Wizards will have a tough time winning in Atlanta. SF Paul Pierce has done an admirable job leading this team with Wall out, but it’s too much to ask of these players to win a road game without their superstar point guard. The Hawks will only be without SG Thabo Sefolosha (Leg), who is out for the remainder of the year.