Filip Tomic
I successfully cashed on my +330 odds Celtics vs Knicks Same Game Parlay on Monday, I’m hoping to carry that momentum over to Game 5 of the Pacers vs Cavaliers series. Two player prop bets and a spread pick make tonight’s SGP, priced at +441 odds. You can catch the game at 7 pm ET on TNT.
Get predictions on the side and total for all NBA postseason games on our NBA Picks page but now let’s get into my Pacers vs Cavaliers Game 5 bet!
IND Pacers +7.5 (-105)
Bennedict Mathurin 2+ Made Threes (+152)
Darius Garland 2+ Made Threes (-320)
Same Game Parlay odds: +441
IND Pacers +7.5 (-105)
Just 1 win stands between the Indiana Pacers and an Eastern Conference Finals berth for the 2nd year running. Sunday night saw Indy demolish the Cavs, who just didn’t know what hit them. At half time the lead was 41 points, tying the largest lead in postseason history. Indiana recorded 25 assists to Cleveland’s 3, they committed 4 turnovers to the Cavs 14. Now it’s closeout time — can we count on Indiana to deliver another performance like that on Tuesday? Going up by as many as 44 points probably won’t happen on the road in Cleveland, but if you’re a Pacers fan, you must feel good about your chances after winning for the 6th time in 8 meetings with the Cavs this year.
Cleveland is in big trouble right now. Not only are the Cavaliers 1 loss away from elimination, but they also could be without Donovan Mitchell, who seemingly tweaked his ankle as he was warming up for the 2nd half in Sunday’s game. The trio of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter was once again in the lineup for the 2nd straight game, but nothing could help the Cavs avoid defeat in Game 4. At this point you have to wonder how much the Cavaliers have left in the tank. Only a handful of teams in NBA history have turned around a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-seven series, and Cleveland became one of those teams to do it in the 2016 NBA Finals. However, this situation isn’t looking good, especially if Mitchell is unable to play on Tuesday. I’m having a hard time justifying backing the Cavaliers here, so will roll with Indy as the road underdogs to cover.
Read our full Indiana Pacers vs Cleveland Cavaliers Game 5 Predictions
Bennedict Mathurin 2+ Made Threes (+152)
Mathurin had a brief appearance in Sunday’s Game 4, he was tossed after playing just 1 minute following an incident with De’Andre Hunter. That means he should have fresh legs for Game 5, so I’m expecting a decent performance from him here. Prior to that ejection he had back-to-back games with 19 and 23 points, the Cavaliers just don’t have an answer for him coming off the bench. He’s cleared this line in 2 of his last 3 games if we don’t count that brief cameo on Sunday. Cleveland’s three-point defense is nowhere to be seen in this series. Over the past 3 games they’re allowing 37.6% of shots from deep to go in and this is a perfect opportunity for Mathurin to assert himself with the 2nd unit once again. He’s shooting the three-ball at 39% in his last 10 games vs Cleveland, I’m more than willing to back him at +152 odds to make a pair of threes on Tuesday.
Darius Garland 2+ Made Threes (-320)
Another player who should have an impact on Tuesday’s game is Darius Garland. He’s already impacted this series for his team, but in a negative way having missed the first two games which the Cavs lost. They are 1-1 SU since his return, Game 4 saw him have his best game of the series with 21 points scored on 6-for-11 shooting. Obviously his toe injury is still limiting him from doing certain things on the court, but he shouldn’t be affected by it when taking threes. We still don’t know the extent of Mitchell’s injury, if he is unable to go here then Garland’s role expands drastically on offense. He’s cleared this line in 3 of the 4 postseason games he’s played in, during the regular season he shot the three-ball at 40.1% efficiency. In head-to-head meetings against the Pacers he’s making 2.1 threes per game in the last 10 games, while shooting 36.8%. Let’s hope for the sake of the Cavs he can make a pair of threes here.
