The NBA playoffs roll on Tuesday, as the Eastern Conference Finals begin in New York City. The No. 4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers and No. 3 seed New York Knicks square off for Game 1 at Madison Square Garden at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. Here are our best NBA picks & predictions for Tuesday, May 19th.
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Tuesday’s Best NBA Picks & Predictions
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All bets are for 1 unit
Cleveland Cavaliers (+210) at New York Knicks (-255) | O/U 217.5 (-112/-108)
While we pretty much expected our Western Conference Finals matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, the Eastern Conference Finals matchup is a little more surprising.
No. 4 seed Cleveland needed seven games to outlast the Toronto Raptors in the first round, and it also needed seven games to vanquish the East’s top-seeded Detroit Pistons. In fact, things looked awfully gloomy for Cleveland after getting blown out on its home court in Game 6, only to return the favor in Game 7.
No. 3- seed New York ousted the Atlanta Hawks, and then got a gift from the Philadelphia 76ers, who bumped off No. 2 seed Boston in the first round. The Knicks overpowered the 76ers in four games and haven’t played since May 10th. Will they be rusty after such a long layoff? Let’s get into it.
Cleveland is coming in hot after a 125-94 rout in Detroit on Sunday, cashing easily as a 4.5-point underdog, as the over (205.5) cashed. Most of the big dogs did what they needed to do, but the Cavaliers also had some unexpected heroes in Game 7 versus the Pistons.
Evan Mobley went for 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists with two steals and two blocks, doing a good job along the interior and on defense. Donovan Mitchell went for a team-best 26 points with eight assists before fouling out in 31 minutes. He was one of four players with 21+ points.
Jarrett Allen continued his strong playoff push with 23 points, seven rebounds, a block and a steal. But it was Sam Merrill who added five three-pointers and 23 points, which really helped turn the game around, making up for James Harden, who was 2-of-10 from the field and 0-for-6 from behind the three-point arc.
After going 0-5 straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) in the first five games on the road this postseason, Cleveland came through with two straight wins and covers in Game 5 and Game 7 in Detroit. A lot was made about team owner Dan Gilbert filling buses full of season ticket members for the final two road games, including 25 busloads for Game 7. The strategy might be a coincidence, but it worked. Will there be throngs of Cavaliers fans traversing the New York Thruway on luxury buses for road games in the city?
The Knicks have been off since throttling the 76ers 144-114 in Game 4 of the second round on May 10th, finishing off the second-round sweep. New York has won seven consecutive playoff games, going 6-1 ATS. The over has cashed in four of the past six games. However, rust is a factor, as the Cavaliers are in a groove after their big win. The Knicks have been getting healthier, but their rhythm might be off. That’s what we’re going with, as we’ll select the Cavaliers catching more than three buckets.
As far as these teams are concerned, they’ve met four times previously in the playoffs, including the first round in 2023. That was the only time these teams had met in a best-of-seven series. New York is a perfect 4-0 in series wins and 12-2 SU in 14 all-time postseason games against Cleveland.
As far as the total is concerned, it’s awfully low, so we’re going to go high in Game 1. Again, we’ve mentioned rust several times. New York should still be able to cobble enough offense together from the likes of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, etc. to get into triple digits, however.
Picks: Cavaliers +6.5 (-105) & Over 217.5 Points (-112)
Joe Williams is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Joe, check out his archive and follow him @winwithjoe