Included in this betting preview:
The 2024 NBA Playoffs have been insanely entertaining so far, and the second round should be just as fun for fans and bettors alike.
Monday night tips off a fantastic doubleheader, with the high-scoring Pacers taking on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden and the reigning champion Nuggets hosting the stifling Timberwolves in Denver. Plenty of value sits on the BetMGM betting market, including moneyline, spread and over/under picks.
Will the Knicks continue their torrid run under Jalen Brunson and his college teammates Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo? Or, will Tyrese Haliburton and Indy carry over momentum from an impressive series victory over the hobbled Bucks?
Will Anthony Edwards and the Wolves take a commanding 2-0 series lead over the defending-champion Nuggets on their floor, or will Nikola Jokic and company respond to the Game 1 upset with force?
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Sporting News has identified the top-value bets on BetMGM for Monday night’s NBA playoff action. Let’s get right to the best moneyline, spread, over/under, and player prop bets for Monday.
The Nuggets should come out guns blazing tonight, as they know how important it will be to avoid going down 2-0 at home to start a series. Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid were hot fire last game, but will they be that special in Game 2?
Denver tends to rebound well after postseason losses. The Nuggets have led at the end of five of the past six halves of games directly following playoff losses, and many of those leads were humongous. Bet on Nikola Jokic and the reigning champions to get back into the swing of things in front of a raucous crowd at Ball Arena, where Denver went 33-8 this season.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Nuggets 104, Wolves 100 — Denver wins (-225) and outscores Minnesota in the first and second half (-145), but Minnesota covers the +5.5 spread (-110) and the final score goes UNDER the projected total of 206.5 (-110).
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A quick look at New York’s home splits and Indy’s road splits both straight up and against the spread indicates that every point literally matters.
| Betting split | Record | ATS |
| Knicks at home | 29-15 | 22-21-1 |
| Pacers on the road | 21-22 | 22-20-1 |
See? The Knicks are great straight up at home, but give the opponent a bunch of points and they’re barely breaking even. Similarly, the Pacers have gone under .500 on the road but over .500 ATS in away games. That’s why the best bet against the spread is to buy New York three points and take the Knicks to win by three.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: Knicks 109, Pacers 106 — New York wins (-225) and covers the -2.5 alternate spread (-175) but fails to cover the actual spread (-5.5). The final score finishes just UNDER the projected total (216.5).
MORE: Knicks-Pacers rivalry, explained
Everyone loves the OVER, but there are plenty of reasons to hate it tonight. Indiana being the top scoring team in the NBA always seems to over-inflate its projected totals, but it’s important to understand that almost every team clamps down on defense a little more in the postseason. Scoring is way down in the playoffs in general.
The betting trends throughout the season support the UNDER, too. The OVER has gone just 17-27 in Knicks home games and 18-23-2 in Pacers road games. The UNDER also hit each of the past two times these teams met (Feb. 1 and Feb. 10 in NY), and it’s 13-5 over the past 18 times they have dueled at Madison Square Garden.
There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Josh Hart rebounding in the playoffs. The man is a beast, perhaps the best rebounding 6-4 player of all time. You can’t teach effort, nor can you ever overlook the heart of a Villanova player.
Hart had a whopping 74 rebounds in New York’s six-game series against the Sixers, and exceeded 12 boards in four of the six games. Philly’s core rotation is bigger than Indiana’s, so the logical choice is to bet the Energizer Bunny to keep the rebounding dominance going tonight.
It’s time to deploy the triple-dub bets, people! It’s a rare sight for Denver to trail a playoff series these days — it didn’t happen at all during the Nuggets’ incredible 16-4 run to the title last year. However, the Wolves have Michael Malone’s squad on the ropes, so the biggest hoops heavyweight in the world has to start delivering some haymakers.
Minnesota maintained the No. 1 defense in the Association all season, and will be extra confident after punching Denver in the mouth in Game 1. Don’t expect Jokic to drop 50 points or anything, but do expect him to get everyone going and to go extra hard on the offensive and defensive glass.
Look at Joker’s stats after a loss this season: 26.4 points, 12.4 rebound, 9.0 assists. Now take a look at what he averaged after a loss last postseason: 35.5/13.8/11.3. The man quite simply cannot be from this planet.
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All odds courtesy of BetMGM, an authorized gaming operator of the NBA.
| Game | Time | Moneyline | Spread | O/U |
| Pacers @ Knicks |
7:30 | NY -225; IND +180 |
NY -5.5 (-115) |
216.5 |
| Wolves @ Nuggets |
10:00 | DEN -225; MIN +180 |
DEN -5.5 (-110) |
206.5 |
