It’s been a while, but the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks are back on the same court for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night.
The pregame narrative: New York and Indiana haven’t met up since February, though they did duel in a seven-game playoff series last May. The Pacers came out on top last year, while the Knicks are favoured to be the victors this time around.
I’m targeting Josh Hart and Myles Turner in my Pacers vs. Knicks prop picks for Game 1 on May 21.
Pacers vs. Knicks prop picks
Best Bet: Hart over 27.5 points/rebounds/assists (-113)
Indiana has played at the fastest pace among all Eastern Conference playoff teams (99.27 possessions/game).
Boston, meanwhile, played at the second-slowest pace (91.68).
Why bring that up? Because I expect plenty of action in this Knicks/Pacers series, and the speed of the game matters for a market like this.
The Knicks scored 120-plus points in all three matchups against the Pacers during the regular season. Hart happened to ball out in each of those games:
- Oct. 25: 20 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast
- Nov. 10: 16 pts, 10 reb, 6 ast
- Feb. 11: 30 pts, 10 reb, 2 ast
That’s 32 PRA or better in all three matchups against Indiana this season.
Three games isn’t a large sample, but we did see these teams square off in a seven-game playoff series just last spring.
Now we have a 10-game sample over the past 12-and-a-half months. In that time, Hart has averaged 15.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists (30.6 PRA) vs. Indiana.
He’s 7-3 against this prop in those 10 matchups, and two of the outliers were blowout road losses.
New York is a 4.5-point home favourite on Tuesday, and as long as the game doesn’t get away from either side, I love this prop for Hart.
Key stat: Hart is 6-3 vs. this prop in his past nine playoff games, and he’s coming off a triple-double in New York’s Game 6 win over Boston.
Game 1 prop prediction
Turner under 6.5 rebounds (-108): This line is a bit of a toss-up, as Turner averaged exactly 6.5 rebounds during the regular season.
In the playoffs, he’s 5-5 against this line — but his average has dipped to 6.0 RPG.
I prefer taking the under because Turner has cashed that side in four of his past six matchups against New York.
And I think 7-footer Mitchell Robinson, who didn’t face the Pacers at all during the regular season, can pose problems for guys like Turner around the rim.
In the Knicks’ second-round series, Robinson averaged 8.0 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game off the bench.
Pacers vs. Knicks prop picks made at 1:00 p.m. ET 05/19/2025.
Jordan enjoys writing data-driven game previews and analysis articles — especially for MLB markets or NFL/NBA props. And as a proud Ohio University grad, he’ll always have a soft spot for college sports (especially if the Bobcats are involved). Previous stops include mlb.com, Sportsnet and The Athletic.