NBA Playoffs 2015: Live Stream Schedule and Odds for Wednesday's Bracket
Playoff desperation in sports makes for must-see drama, and there will plenty of that to go around Wednesday during the 2015 NBA playoffs.
The Portland Trail Blazers’ season is on full-blown life support in the Western Conference, while the No. 1 seed Atlanta Hawks appear to have lost their talent, Space Jam style, in their series against the No. 8 seed Brooklyn Nets.
Here is a look at the essential information for Wednesday’s games as well as predicted winners. Point spreads are courtesy of Odds Shark (as of Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET), and the Watch TNT live stream can be found here.
| Game 5: Brooklyn Nets at Atlanta Hawks | 7 p.m. ET | TNT | Watch TNT | ATL -9 | Tied, 2-2 |
| Game 5: Portland Trail Blazers at Memphis Grizzlies | 9:30 p.m. ET | TNT | Watch TNT | MEM -5.5 | Memphis leads, 3-1 |
Brooklyn Nets at Atlanta Hawks
It may seem strange that the team with home-court advantage in a series tied at two games is the desperate one, but the Nets are playing with house money at this point.
Brooklyn finished with a losing record during the season and was expected to fall flat against the top-seeded Hawks. Instead, Atlanta must win Game 5 or it faces an elimination contest on the road where it just lost two contests.
There are a number of explanations for Brooklyn’s ability to stay with the Hawks, including the Nets’ propensity to switch on every screen involving sharpshooter Kyle Korver to minimize his looks from downtown after he drilled 5-of-11 three-pointers in the first game. Korver isn’t exactly known for creating off the dribble, and the Nets minimized his impact in Brooklyn.
What’s more, Paul Millsap and Al Horford are both less than 100 percent, which impacts Atlanta’s rebounding, mid-range options and ability to protect the rim. As a result, Brooklyn is going to work with Brook Lopez down low, as Zach Harper of CBS Sports noted:
"The Hawks are losing when Al Horford (-3.0 per 100) and Pero Antic (-0.8 per 100) are on the floor because they are losing the battle to Brook Lopez seemingly every stretch of the past couple games. Lopez is averaging 21.3 points and 11.0 rebounds in this series and they just can't seem to stop him from getting off that floated uncontested in the middle of the lane. You have to work so hard to keep him off the boards (4.0 offensive boards per game) and then it hurts the Hawks' defense get out of position in the process.
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The Game 4 emergence of Deron Williams cannot be overlooked either. After scoring a whopping two points in Game 2 and three points in Game 3, the three-time All-Star went off for 35 points on 13-of-25 shooting and a 7-of-11 performance from three-point range, seven assists and three steals, reminding fans why there was legitimate debate regarding Williams’ place on the point guard hierarchy next to Chris Paul a few years ago.
There is no reason to expect that type of production to last from Williams given what we saw earlier in the series and for the majority of the season, but Brooklyn successfully put a scare in the Hawks.
I am going to lean on the home-court advantage crutch with this prediction, although Brooklyn will force a Game 7 with another win at home. Look for the Hawks to contain Williams in Atlanta and play more like the team from the first two games than the one in Brooklyn.
The home team has been dominant thus far in this series, and Atlanta will play with the appropriate amount of desperation. That is good enough for the victory.
Prediction: Hawks win Game 5 and Nets win Game 6. Get ready for a Game 7.
Portland Trail Blazers at Memphis Grizzlies
This series could very well be over if it wasn’t for Mike Conley’s injury.
The Grizzlies point guard underwent surgery for a facial fracture, and there is no definitive return date in place. Memphis needs his presence beyond just this series if it hopes to contend for an NBA title, especially with Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors waiting around the corner.
Conley averaged 16 points and 3.7 assists per game in the first three contests of this series, which were all Memphis wins. His impact went beyond the stat sheet, though, because he chased Damian Lillard around and limited the All-Star’s effectiveness.
It is no accident that Lillard dropped 32 points and tallied seven assists without Conley hounding his every move in Game 4. It is also not difficult to envision a scenario where Lillard leads Portland back into this series if Conley is out for an extended period.
Lillard discussed his team’s one-game-at-a-time approach after falling behind 3-0, per The Associated Press, via ESPN.com:
"I think since the last game when we went 0-3, the big thing we've been talking about is having heart and playing with pride -- and just not being swept. Everybody's always saying, 'Nobody's ever done it, coming back from 0-3.' We didn't want to focus on that. We wanted to focus on just today, and doing everything we had to do to give ourselves a chance to keep playing.
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Even with the Portland win in Game 4, let’s not paint this as a Conley-or-bust scenario for Memphis. The Grizzlies held a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter without Conley and present matchup problems in other areas, especially with Marc Gasol directing the offense from the high post.
Game 5 is in Memphis, where the Grizzlies are a combined 4-0 against the Trail Blazers in the regular season and postseason this year. Conley’s status will not change that pattern, although it will impact Memphis’ chances in the next round.
Prediction: Grizzlies win Game 5 and the series.
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