The Eastern Conference semifinals tip off on Sunday when the Indiana Pacers head to the Rocket Arena to face the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.
Indiana made quick work of the Bucks, finishing the series on Tuesday with an overtime victory over Milwaukee. The Pacers look to qualify for the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight season after last year’s surprising run to the championship series.
The Cavs swept Miami to reach the second round of the postseason. Cleveland’s closest game was a nine-point victory over the Heat in Game 2. Despite that close game, the Cavs outscored the eighth-seeded squad by 122 points in the series.
For the third time in the past decade, the Pacers and Cavs will face off in the playoffs. Will the Cleveland win its third straight series over Indiana? We’ll cover that while providing bettors with our top player prop bets and our best overall bet for this series-opening matchup.
Sweeping their Eastern Conference first-round opponent quickly could backfire for the Cavaliers, especially shooting guard Donovan Mitchell. He shot an incredible 47.8 percent from the field against Miami, and over 45 percent of his three-pointers hit their mark.
A six-day layoff could pose a problem for the 6-foot-3 shooter, and signs of rust might be inevitable. Mitchell will be one of his team’s leading scorers, but bettors should project him to finish with 26 or fewer points on Sunday in this series-opening contest.
In his fifth year, Pacers point Tyrese Haliburton has become the gold standard for facilitators. The 6-foot-5 guard has averaged over nine assists per game since joining Indiana, showing his ability to find open teammates.
Haliburton played only two games against Cleveland during the regular season, but his first was one of his briefest outings of the year.
The final game against Milwaukee was his worst of the postseason, so bettors should expect him to rebound against Cleveland and finish with at least 11 assists on Sunday.
While most of the attention will be pointed to the guard matchup, the center position should be an interesting battle for fans to watch. Cleveland big Jarrett Allen will square off against Indiana center Myles Turner.
This is Turner’s 10th year in the NBA, and he’s off to a strong start in the postseason by averaging 16.8 points and 4.8 rebounds against Milwaukee.
His numbers against Cleveland aren’t as strong, but he does have a pair of games where he exceeded 22 combined points and rebounds. Expect him to contribute at least that many on Sunday to cover this prop bet.
The Cavs went 64-18 during the regular season, owning all but two series against their Eastern Conference foes. The Atlanta Hawks may surprise readers as one of the two franchises to own a winning record over Cleveland, but the Pacers aren’t as shocking.
Indiana won three of the four contests between these two teams, but two of those were at the end of the season when the Cavs rested their starters with both teams’ postseason seedings secure.
For the first time since January, these squads will face off in a meaningful game. Expect Cleveland to come out firing to prove their dominance, winning this game – and the series – in convincing fashion over Indiana.