It’s felt like quite a long wait, but the 2025 NBA Eastern Conference Finals are finally here! With Game 1 looming, it’s time to see if the Indiana Pacers or New York Knicks will end their drought of NBA Finals appearances. With such a classic rivalry on deck, we’ve got our best Pacers vs. Knicks predictions for tonight.

Of course, that also means a best bet from our Pacers vs. Knicks picks, which we’ll make super valuable with the best prices on the market with a guaranteed Novig promo code bonus!

Pacers vs. Knicks Predictions For Tonight Eastern Conference Finals Game 1, 5/21

Without even having seen a single game of this series, there is already so much to break down. A Tyrese Haliburton vs. Jalen Brunson matchup is already exciting enough, as these are considered the top two clutch players in the NBA.

As already noted, it’s also a classic NBA rivalry. These teams have met nine times in the postseason, and that includes just last year! We’ll get more into those meetings specifically in just a moment, but just know that it took seven games for a winner to be decided last year.

It’s also very interesting the narrative of how both of these squads have gotten here. Indiana took advantage of a Cleveland Cavaliers team plagued by multiple injuries, and the Knicks did the same after Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum went down. Now, it’s time for them to prove that they still deserve to be in this spot.

There are so many ways to approach this series opener, but we’ve found a market we love for the best bet from our Pacers vs. Knicks predictions for Game 1.

Indiana Pacers: Rivalry Renewed

As promised - more regarding this classic rivalry. It’s more of an old-school one for newer NBA fans to recognize, but it’s one nonetheless. It was Indiana that came out victorious in seven games last season, which was a round earlier in the playoffs. With that victory, they took the 5-3 lead in playoff history against the Knicks.

Not only did they eliminate New York last year, but they’ve also won each of the last three postseason matchups. As for the regular season this year, the Knicks won that series 2-1. Those three games weren’t exactly competitive either, as all three matchups were decided by at least 11 points.
 

 

 

New York Knicks: History Of Their Own

Sure, the Pacers have gotten the better of the Knicks in recent postseasons, but perhaps Karl-Anthony Towns will make the difference? We’ll be waiting to see if that’s the case, but they’ll at least have some momentum on their side. That’s thanks to the way in which they eliminated the defending-champion Boston Celtics.

While the Tatum injury seemed to spell the end of that series, New York closed in out as dominantly as possible. After a 27-point halftime lead (tied most in franchise history), the 38-point Game 6 win was the absolute most. As for more history that correlates to our best bet - Josh Hart had the first triple-double in Knicks playoff history since 1972.
 

 

 

Pacers vs. Knicks Odds, Spreads, Total & Betting Lines

Thanks to being a peer-to-peer platform, commission-free platform, you can get the best Pacers vs. Knicks odds at Novig; here are the latest lines for the standard market:

 

 

Pacers vs. Knicks Best Bet: Josh Hart To Record A Double-Double (-115 At Novig)

We know that we all but gave away the best bet from our Pacers vs. Knicks predictions, but with a series of clutch vs. clutch (Haliburton vs. Brunson), we expect that we’ll be able to provide several more. As for this first one, we’re targeting someone other than those two stars.

Instead, we’re focused on the minutes machine, Josh Hart. He's an absolute workhorse who doesn’t even blink when playing 40+ minutes. That helps him pad the box score, just like the aforementioned triple-double that last time he took the court. Also, with +105 odds to record over 9.5 rebounds, this is the more valuable way to go.

Even if he doesn’t open the Eastern Conference Finals with another triple-double, we absolutely expect a double-double from him. After all, it’s exactly what we saw from him against the Pacers both earlier this year AND in last year’s playoffs.

In every single regular season game this season, Hart recorded double-digit rebounds. As for last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinals, he had a double-double in each of the first three games of the series, which included point totals of 24 and rebounds of 18. Doing so with such ease allowed him to AVERAGE a double-double across the seven-game series.

That was even with Isaiah Hartenstein pulling down boards, so now we love Josh Hart to record a double-double (+145 at Novig) as the best bet from our Pacers vs. Knicks predictions even more!

 

 

 

Pacers vs. Knicks Injury Report & Starting Lineup

While these teams go through teams with significant injuries, the actual Pacers vs. Knicks injury news is far less prominent. In fact, it’s really just keeping an eye on New York’s Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, as they’ve had nagging issues virtually all season. Even still, you’ll see them in the expected Pacers vs. Knicks lineups for Game 1 tonight:

IND Pacers:

NY Knicks:

 

 

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That’s all there is to it, and of course, you can make more than just Pacers vs. Knicks picks! Even if you do just stick with the NBA playoffs, do so with a guaranteed 50% discount by signing up today with our exclusive Novig promo code ALARM!
 

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