Pacers vs Knicks Betting: Game 5 Preview and Predictions | Point Spreads

The Indiana Pacers protected their home court with an outstanding 121-89 victory over the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the East Semifinals. But the Indiana Pacers schedule isn’t appealing for the next three games in the series.

The Knicks and Pacers are headed back to Madison Square Garden for Game 5, with the series tied at two.

Despite the loss to the Pacers, the Knicks still have home-court advantage and are still favorites in Game 5 at home. It’s unclear whether New York will have OG Anunoby back, although it seems unlikely. Therefore, the Knicks will have the exact lineup that they had in Game 4’s blowout loss. Only this time, the Knicks will have the home crowd cheering them on.

The Knicks are currently -2.5 against the spread, with the total at 216.5. The Knicks looked very fatigued in Game 4, but getting back home and getting extra rest during the loss should help New York recover and prepare for this game.

Some NBA news came out that the Knicks had a players-only meeting after the embarrassing loss to Indiana. Either way, it’s a long series, and the Knicks are still favorites to win it with two home games remaining, if necessary.

Check out the Pacers vs Knicks Betting preview for Game 5 of this pivotal matchup.

Pacers vs Knicks Betting Trends

In this series, the Knicks and Pacers have each won their home games outright. Meanwhile, the Knicks and Pacers also won against the spread in two of the four games.

In addition, the Over and Under has hit two times each in the series.

Over the last ten games, including the playoffs, the Knicks and Pacers have each won outright five times. The same thing has happened against the spread, but the Over has hit in six of the last ten games.

This is why the Knicks-Pacers playoffs matchup is must-watch TV.

Tyrese Haliburton’s Trending In The Right Direction

The Pacers got six points from Tyrese Haliburton in Game 1 of this series. But since then, Haliburton has been much more aggressive in the last three games.

Halliburton has added at least 20 points in three consecutive games and has added at least four threes in each of those games.

While his assist numbers are down, his efficiency from the floor isn’t. He’s shot at least 53.3% from the field in the last three games. In this series, he’s also hit 45.2% from downtown on 10.5 attempts from three per game.

Per our Pacers vs Knicks betting preview, Haliburton needs to continue to play at this level for the Pacers to win this series.

New York Got Some Rest

Realistically, the Knicks looked fatigued. Nobody blames them. Most starters have played 40+ minutes a night, and the Knicks are ultimately without lots of depth, with Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson, and Bojan Bogdanovic all unavailable.

It was all fun and games when the fatigue didn’t show. But the Knicks started super slow in the first quarter and never recovered. They missed open layups and easy looks from the field and looked slow defensively.

From an analytical standpoint, the Knicks haven’t ever been that great defensively this year. It’s usually the offense that wins the Knicks their games. But they couldn’t buy a bucket in Game 4. They also couldn’t stop a bucket in Game 4, either.

Therefore, the starters got the extra rest they desperately needed once the Knicks conceded in the fourth quarter. We’ll see if that affects the Knicks in Game 5. After all, they still have a higher probability with the NBA Championship odds.

New York Will Be Fine

The New York Knicks hadn’t lost back-to-back games since March 29-April 2. So it was shocking to see the Knicks struggle against the Pacers in Game 4.

But as we suggested earlier, the Knicks were tired and not mentally prepared for Game 4. They shot an effective field goal percentage of 37.1%, which was the worst field goal percentage they shot throughout the entire season.

They’ve had some other poor games, but that effective field goal percentage was the worst out of any game. At home, with extra rest, the Knicks most certainly won’t shoot that poorly in Game 5.

Yet, despite the struggles from the field, the Knicks still added 31.2% of offensive rebounds and got to the foul line at an above-average rate. They just turned the ball over 14.3% of the time, which was a bad look.

On the other hand, the Pacers scored 142.3 points per 100 possessions and added a 68.3% effective field goal percentage. They also took advantage of the Knicks on the offensive glass, adding 32.1% of offensive rebounds. Indiana didn’t get to the foul line, but that’s because they had so many open looks without even being guarded.

Against the Pacers, the Knicks have allowed at least 123.2 points per 100 possessions. The Knicks have also allowed a 58% effective field goal percentage or better in three of their four games against the Pacers.

Realistically, the defense hasn’t been good. It’s hard to keep up with Indiana’s pace. The offense is second in the NBA in points per 100 possessions and rarely turns the ball over despite moving extremely fast on the offensive end.

That said, the Knicks must return to playing top-tier offense in Game 5 to have a chance. Our playoff predictions for Game 5 include the Over 216.5 (-110).

Pacers vs Knicks Odds

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