NBA 2024/25 Expert Tips and Best Bets | May 30

The New York Knicks are now one loss away from seeing their season end as Indiana visits MSG for game five up 3-1. We’re looking for a tight game today as we like Indiana to cover the +5.5 point spread. We also like the over with the line at 222.5 along with KAT to score 20 or more trying and keep his team’s season alive.

Indiana Pacers +5.5 | $1.85 @ Betright

Indiana is just one win away from reaching their first NBA Finals since 2000. Game five today is at MSG - a building in which the Pacers won games one and two. Indiana has been a terrific road team all playoffs long, having won six of their seven games away from home. The Knicks will no doubt come out strong given what’s on the line, but the history of this series and the whole postseason points towards Indiana playing very well. We like the spread at +5.5 more than the moneyline to give us a little wiggle room. And at $1.85 on Betright, there’s still solid value here.

Total Points O222.5 | $1.80 @ Betfocus

Elimination games are typically lower scoring affairs compared to the rest of the games in a series. However, we don’t think that will be the case in game five. The Pacers’ run and gun style leads to high scoring games and the Knicks haven’t consistently shown an ability to stop that. Game three was relatively low scoring, but aside from that each game in this series has seen more than 222 points scored. We’re betting on that trend to continue. At $1.80 on Betfocus, there’s enough value here for us to overlook the potential for the referees to tuck their whistles as they sometimes do in elimination games.

Karl-Anthony Towns 20+ Points | $1.50 @ PlayUp

Karl-Anthony Towns has been a great running mate for Jalen Brunson in this series. He has been initiating offense for the Knicks more often than he seemingly did all year. As such, his scoring outputs have been very consistent. KAT has yet to miss the 20 point mark in the series. He has been relentlessly attacking Myles Turner in space as the Pacers big man doesn’t have the quickness or agility to stay in front of him. NBA betting sites recognize his scoring consistency, but are still offering enough value for us to like the pick at $1.50 for 20+ points on PlayUp.