Celtics vs. Pacers Game 2: Prediction Against The Spread, Betting Odds For 2019 NBA Playoffs

The Boston Celtics can take a 2-0 lead over the Indiana Pacers in their first-round playoff series Wednesday night at TD Garden. Boston took Game 1 comfortably 84-74, and they are favored to do so again in Game 2.

The Celtics are favored by 7.5 points at home, according to the latest betting odds at OddsShark, and the over/under is 203. Depending on the sportsbook, Boston is slightly more than a -300 favorite with Indiana's moneyline at +275.

Does Indiana have a chance to pull off the upset?

If the same Boston team that played for much of the regular season shows up Wednesday, Indiana can make this one interesting. The Celtics were among the most inconsistent and confusing teams over the 82-game schedule, often losing games that they seemingly should have won.

We saw evidence of that in the first half of the series opener. Indiana had a seven-point lead after the second quarter as they held Boston to just 38 points over the game's first 24 minutes.

Things quickly changed in the second half. The Pacers were outscored 26-8 in the third quarter and never threatened in the fourth quarter.

Indiana probably can't win this series without Victor Oladipo. They can certainly be competitive, and despite what they might be lacking on offense, don't expect another 74-point performance.

The Pacers ended the regular season with at least 96 points in nine straight games. They scored at least 108 points in six of those contests. Bojan Bogdanovic had 12 points and no three-pointers made in Game 1 after averaging 18.0 points per game and making 42.5 percent of his threes in the regular season.

Boston should score more than 84 points in Game 2, though they might still struggle offensively. Indiana finished the regular season ranked third in defensive efficiency. The Celtics were 16th in offensive efficiency in the last 15 games of the year.

In the end, Kyrie Irving and Al Horford will probably be too much for the Pacers. Gordon Hayward could have a big game after entering the playoffs on a bit of a hot streak.

But it should be a close contest and one that sees Indiana cover the spread.

Game 2 between the Celtics and Pacers starts at 7 p.m. EDT on TNT.

Prediction: Boston over Indiana, 95-91