NBA Playoffs: Heat vs. Knicks, Lakers vs. Warriors Picks, Best Bet and Odds for Game 5

Betting trends and picks for a pair of NBA playoff elimination games.

The Knicks and Warriors are both on the brink of elimination while the Heat and Lakers are on the verge of punching their respective tickets to the NBA conference finals.

Miami leads New York 3–1 with the potential closeout game set for Wednesday evening at Madison Square Garden. The Heat are in a familiar position as road underdogs, but one that’s been profitable for them throughout the playoffs.

Los Angeles also holds a 3–1 advantage over Golden State with the opportunity to send the defending champions home on the road. The Warriors are favored to extend the series at least one more game.

Below are a handful of betting trends, picks and one key question regarding this playoff doubleheader. Heat-Knicks begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT and Lakers-Warriors gets going at 10.

Jimmy Butler :: Rich Storry/USA Today Sports

Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks Game 5 Predictions

Heat Cover Eighth Straight: Bet Miami +4

The Heat have been a covering machine in the postseason with an 8–1 mark against the spread. They’ve covered seven straight games and won their last five outright as an underdog. This is a far cry from the Miami team in the regular season that tied Dallas for the worst record against the spread in the NBA (30–49–3). But as Jimmy Butler and Co. have shown throughout their recent playoff runs, the Heat turn things up in the postseason and Wednesday night they have a chance to extend their run from the play-in tournament to the conference finals with a win.

Miami’s Offense Keeps Rolling: Bet Heat Over 103.5 Points

The Heat went from the lowest-scoring team in the league during the regular season (109.5 points per game) to one of the most efficient offenses in the playoffs (116.3 points per game). The fewest points Miami has scored on its run is 105, twice, both of which have occurred in the New York series. The over/under for the road team in this elimination game at MSG is set at 103.5, which should be easy enough to clear for a team that’s shooting 38.5% from long range and employs Butler, one of the highest-scoring players in the postseason (33.5 points per game).

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors Game 5 Predictions

Stephen Curry Continues to Fill Up the Box Score: Bet Curry Over 12.5 Rebounds + Assists

Curry triple-doubled in Game 4 and the 10 rebounds he corralled and 14 dimes he dished out were both the most he’s recorded on this playoff run. That was a bit of an outlier performance in both categories for the two-time MVP, but he has been a more willing distributor in the Lakers series so far — he also had 12 assists in Game 2 — and his rebounding numbers are up from Round 1. Curry has only topped 12.5 combined rebounds and assists three times in 11 postseason games, but he’s done it twice in his last three games and hit the over on assists alone last time out.

Will the Over Hit at Chase Center?

The over hit in the first two games of the Lakers-Warriors series at Chase Center while the under hit in the next two at Crypto.com Arena. Game 4 was the lowest-scoring game of the entire series, which Los Angeles won, 104-101. Even after that low-scoring affair, the total for Game 5 in San Francisco, where the under has been a more common occurrence than the over all season long, is in line with the rest of the series at 226 points. With their backs against the wall, the defending champions could respond with an offensive outburst or the Lakers could slow them down yet again.

NBA Playoffs Betting Record: 13–11