Oddsmakers don’t like the Knicks’ chances of finishing off the Pacers in six games.
Indiana is a solid 5.5-point favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook on its home floor over the orange-and-blue heading into the crucial Friday night clash.
On the moneyline, the Knicks are a +180 underdog versus the Pacers, who are at -225.
Through five games, the home team has won every game of this enthralling second-round series.
Favorites are also 5-0 thus far, so the Knicks will need to upend the series trend if they want to head to Boston after Friday night’s game.
The pair of teams started the series with two high-scoring affairs, hitting the over in both Game 1 and 2.
But it’s been tough going for offenses since then, going under in each of the past three contests.
The Knicks won back-to-back nail-biters at Madison Square Garden to open up the series, but the Pacers bounced back as injuries mounted for New York.
After winning a close Game 3, the Pacers blew out the Knicks a couple of days later.
On Tuesday, the short-handed Knicks returned the favor with a blowout of their own.
Barring more bad injury luck, it appears the Knicks will be favored in a potential Game 7 at MSG.
The Knicks are a -265 favorite (FanDuel Sportsbook) to win the series despite the Pacers being favored Friday night.
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It’ll only get tougher if they make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, though, where they will almost certainly be near-historic underdogs.
After finishing off the Cavaliers in five games, the Celtics remained an overwhelming favorite to make it to the NBA Finals, sitting at -950 at FanDuel.
