Indiana Pacers vs New York Knicks Prediction, 5/21/2025 Preview and Pick

Game: Indiana Pacers vs New York Knicks

Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

TV: TNT

Odds/Point Spread: Indiana (+5.0)

Madison Square Garden is where the New York Knicks (51-31) will try to defeat the Indiana Pacers (50-32) on Wednesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Indiana opens this contest as 5-point underdogs. The over/under is 224.

The Pacers played the Cavaliers and walked away with a win by a score of 114-105 in Game 5 of the East Semifinals to get them to the next round. Indiana finished the game having earned a 50.0% FG percentage (41 out of 82) and converted 15 out of their 35 3-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Pacers knocked down 17 of their 22 attempts for a rate of 77.3%. In relation to grabbing rebounds, they compiled 47 with 5 of them being offensive. They also recorded 26 assists for this game as well as forcing the other team into 12 turnovers and having 8 steals. When it comes to defense, Indiana allowed 38.9% from the floor on 35 of 90 shooting. Cleveland doled out 10 assists and had 8 steals in the game. Additionally, Cleveland pulled down 46 rebounds (15 offensive, 31 defensive) and had 8 rejections. Cleveland finished the contest at 70.3% at the charity stripe by knocking down 26 of 37 attempts. They buried 9 of their 35 shots from 3-point range. In the matter of fouls, the Pacers ended up with 27 and the Cavaliers recorded 23 fouls.

Tyrese Haliburton is a guy who had an impact for this contest. Haliburton finished the game shooting 66.7% from the field and also distributed 8 dimes. He saw the court for 36 mins played and collected 6 boards. He had 31 points on 10 of 15 shooting.

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Indiana will play this game with a win-loss record of 50-32 for the campaign. They are turning it over 13.2 times per contest and as a basketball team they commit 18.7 fouls every game. As a team, Indiana is grabbing 41.8 boards per game and has tallied 2,398 dimes so far this season, which ranks 3rd in basketball in terms of passing. The Pacers are shooting 36.8% on 3-point shots (1,081 of 2,934) and 78.9% from the free throw line. They have an average of 117.4 pts per contest (7th in the NBA) while connecting on 48.8% from the field.

When they are on the defensive end, the Pacers are forcing 15.0 turnovers every game and they draw 18.8 personal fouls. They give up 35.5% on 3-pointers while they are 17th in the NBA in points per game allowed (115.1). The Pacers defense is giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 47.4% (3,493 of 7,372) and they relinquish 45.0 rebounds per game as a group. They rank 12th in the NBA in allowing assists to the opposition with 2,131 relinquished on the campaign.

In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Knicks took home the win by a final score of 119-81 against the Celtics. When talking about how they attacked the glass, New York allowed Boston to pull down 36 in all (9 on the offensive side). They finished shooting 30.0% from beyond the arc by going 12 out of 40 and finished the game at 7 out of 10 at the free throw line (70.0%). The Knicks allowed the Celtics to bury 31 out of their 86 tries from the floor which gave them a rate of 36.0% for the contest. In all, the Knicks ended up going 42 for 91 from the field which gave them a rate of 46.2%. When discussing shooting from beyond the arc, New York converted 16 out of their 45 attempts (35.6%). They were able to bury 19 of the free throws for a percentage of 90.5%. The Celtics were called for 22 personal fouls for the game which took the Knicks to the charity stripe for 21 attempts. They turned the ball over 14 times, while recording 7 steals in this matchup. The Knicks were able to pull down 40 defensive rebounds and 15 offensive rebounds totaling 55 for this game.

OG Anunoby was important for the Knicks for this contest. Anunoby racked up 23 points in his 37 mins on the court and had 2 dimes for this game. He made 7 of 18 for the game for a field goal percentage of 38.9%, and tallied 9 rebounds.

New York has a win-loss record of 51-31 this season. As an offensive team, the Knicks are hitting on 48.6% from the field, which is ranked 5th in the NBA. New York has earned 9,494 points on the campaign (115.8 per contest) and they snag 42.6 boards per contest. They are dishing out assists 27.5 times per contest (11th in the NBA) and they are giving up possession 13.3 times per contest. The Knicks have committed 17.2 fouls per game and they hit 80.0% from the charity stripe.

The New York defense allows 36.7% on shots from behind the 3-point line (1,072 of 2,924) and their opposition makes 78.9% of their free throw attempts. They give up 25.2 assists and 41.8 boards on a nightly basis, which ranks 7th and 2nd in the NBA. The Knicks on the defensive side of the court are 9th in the league in points given up per game with 111.7. They are forcing 14.5 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 47.4% from the floor (25th in the NBA).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Indiana (+5.0)

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