The NBA Playoffs continue Wednesday with one game on the schedule. Tonight, the sixth-seed Indiana Pacers try to even their series against the second-seed New York Knicks inside Madison Square Garden.
Indiana entered the second round of the NBA playoffs by upsetting the three-seed Milwaukee Bucks – who were without Giannis Antetokounmpo the entire series – in a 4-2 series victory. New York punched their ticket into the second round with a 4-2 series victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
In a battle with heated playoff rivals, with the Pacers even the series? Or will the Knicks continue to roll toward their first Eastern Conference finals matchup since 2000? We’ll cover that and three NBA player prop bets below.
For the first time since Michael Jordan’s playing days, an NBA player has finished with 40 or more points in four straight games. That distinction belongs to Knicks guard Jalen Brunson as he finished with 43 points on Monday against the Pacers.
Brunson will go for a fifth-straight game with 40 or more points to break a tie with New York great Bernard King, who also had four straight games in the 1984 playoffs. The all-time record is six held by NBA logo and legend Jerry West.
Oddsmakers have upped Brunson’s prop scoring bet to 37.5 points for this game. It’s hard to imagine Brunson not scoring the bulk of his team’s points, but picking him to score 38 points yet again is a hard task for anyone. We’ll pass on this player prop bet.
After starting off the Milwaukee series by hitting 17-of-34 three-point field goals, Indiana center Myles Turner slowed over his past three games. The center connected on just three 3-point field goals over the next three games, connecting on just 23% of his attempts.
While no one is expecting Turner to recreate his first-round Game 4 experience – scoring 29 points off 7-of-9 three-point attempts – bettors should consider Turner a threat to make at least two 3-point field goals for a second-straight game against New York.
With Brunson’s scoring clip taking center stage, New York shooting guard Josh Hart has become a man of many roles for the Knicks.
The 6’ 4” athlete is collecting a team-best 12.4 rebounds per playoff contest while also averaging 17.9 points and 5.0 assists per outing. On Wednesday, Hart’s rebounding player prop is set to 12.5, a mark he’s eclipse three times in the seven playoff contests he’s played.
A better player prop to consider for this athlete is the 5.5 assists prop bet as he’s bettered that figure in two straight outings and three of the past five.
Wednesday, October 23 at 7:00 PM | Spread | Money | Total |
Indiana Pacers | -6 (-109) | -218 | O 234 (-110) |
Detroit Pistons | +6 (-112) | +200 | U 233.5 (-112) |
In three of the four contests these two teams have played against each other, the final score has eclipsed the 219-point mark. Each squad has plenty of competent scorers in this series.
Monday’s game finished 18.5 points above this total, and only a complete off-shooting night by both teams would derail tonight’s results from being any different. Let's ride the Over!
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Earnest is a 25-year veteran of the newspaper industry. He's spent the majority of his early years working as a sports reporter and editor. He made the move back to the digital world in 2022, joining EatWatchBet as a senior writer. Ernie covers college football betting, fantasy football, and NFL betting for EatWatchBet.