NBA Playoff Predictions 2012: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Boston Celtics Game 7 Odds

The Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics will close out their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series on Saturday night inside the TD Garden in Boston, with the opening tip scheduled for 8:00 ET on ABC.

Las Vegas oddsmakers have established the Celtics as 5.5-point home favorites, while the total has dropped by a full point to settle in at 170.5.

Boston clearly holds an edge in experience in playing in a Game 7 situation, but its important to note that the betting odds are no different than Game 1 or Game 5 in this 2012 NBA playoff series. The Celtics did manage to win both of those games in straight-up fashion, but earned a split against the point spread.

Point guard Rajon Rondo is the key to this game in my opinion, considering two of the Celtics' three losses in this series have come when he's failed to reach double digits in scoring. He will need to control the pace of the game with injuries piling up on the roster.  

The Celtics have won all three games when tied in a playoff series this year, with the "over" cashing in each of those contests.

Philadelphia is 6-8 all time when playing in a Game 7, but is just 1-7 in that situation on the road. The 76ers have also managed to win just one of their last nine road games against the Celtics in the postseason.

Small forward Andre Iguodala will have to do more than averaging just 10.0 points on 33.3 percent shooting over the last two games in order to pull off the upset, but I'm not sure he's the type of player to rise to the occasion.

Boston will do just enough down the stretch to advance and meet the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.

Prediction: Boston Celtics 88, Philadelphia 76ers 81

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