NBA Playoffs: Betting Stats and Trends to Know Ahead of Heat vs. Knicks, Lakers vs. Warriors

Tuesday night’s NBA playoffs doubleheader features Game 2 of Heat-Knicks and the Lakers-Warriors series opener.

Miami took Game 1 at Madison Square Garden over the weekend despite a late injury to Jimmy Butler, whose status is up in the air for the second game of the series. And Golden State draws a LeBron James-led team in the postseason for the first time since 2018 after its Game 7 win over the Kings on Sunday.

Below are five betting trends to take note of for this evening. Heat-Knicks begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT and Lakers-Warriors gets underway at 10 p.m. on the same network.

Can the Heat continue their underdog win streak?

Miami has not been favored in any of its six playoff games so far. Despite that, the Heat have a 5–1 record straight up and against the spread and have won four games in a row outright as underdogs dating back to Game 3 of the Bucks series. With the status of Butler (ankle) in doubt for Game 2, they are 6.5-point underdogs against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The odds of Miami pulling off its fifth consecutive upset are +225.

Will Jalen Brunson find his range from outside?

Brunson has been New York’s best player in the postseason but he’s rarely punished opponents from deep, aside from a 5-for-9 performance in Game 4 of the Cavaliers series. He’s shooting worse than 24% from three in the postseason after he shot a career-best 41.6% in the regular season. Brunson shot 0-for-7 from beyond the arc in Game 1 and his over/under for threes made is set at 2.5 with plus odds on the over.

How will LeBron James perform against Golden State?

James is going against the Warriors for the fifth time in his playoff career. Coming off a 4-2 series win over the Grizzlies in which he averaged 22/11/5, expectations are high for Game 1 at the Chase Center. James’s point total is set at 26.5 — the second-highest of any player — his rebounds over/under is 9.5 and his assist line is set at 5.5. At +340, James also has the second-best odds to be the game’s leading scorer.

Do the Lakers have what it takes to slow down Stephen Curry?

L.A. had its hands full in Round 1 against Ja Morant. Now, the Lakers are staring down a matchup with Curry, who’s coming off a 50-point performance in Game 7 against the Kings. He’s third in the playoffs in scoring at 33.7 points per game and his over/under for the series opener is set at 31.5. Curry’s three-point total is set at 4.5 with the odds heavily juiced to the over. So far in the postseason, he’s averaged 4.9 made threes per game.

Can Anthony Davis minimize Kevon Looney’s impact on the boards?

Looney (15.1 rebounds per game) and Davis (13.7) are the No. 1 and 2 rebounding leaders in the playoffs to date. Looney’s impact on the glass was monumental against Sacramento as he compiled three games with 20 or more boards and corralled 10 offensive rebounds alone in Game 7. Davis double-doubled in five of six first-round games against Memphis. Davis’s rebounding total for Game 1 is set at 13.5 while Looney’s is at 11.5. Both players were active for all four regular-season meetings and Davis narrowly won the rebounding battle between the two big men.

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