With Madison Square Garden rocking, the New York Knicks made a late push to take Game 1 of their series against the Indiana Pacers.

The pregame narrative: Both teams caught fire in the second half of what ended up being a high-scoring game. I'm backing the over in Game 2 as my best bet while also expecting another solid game from Josh Hart.

Check out these Pacers vs. Knicks picks for Game 2 of their second-round series on May 8.

Pacers vs. Knicks picks

Best Bet: Over 220.5 points (-112)

The Pacers and Knicks have their own ways of putting up lofty point totals. Both methods worked in Game 1, and I believe both can work again.

For Indiana, depth is the fuel that makes the offence hum. Myles Turner finished with a team-high 23 points, but the entire rotation chipped in. The Pacers' reserves outscored the Knicks' reserves, 46-3.

Speaking of New York, the team is led by star guard Jalen Brunson. He filled the net with 43 points, while two other Knicks (Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart) also outscored the Pacers' top scorer.

After a bit of a sluggish first half in Game 1, both teams turned it on coming out of the halftime break. They combined for 134 second-half points (and 238 points overall), and they both shot over 50.0% from the field for the game.

It's nice to know that the Pacers and Knicks can both go on scoring binges, but they won't need to be that productive in Game 2. They cleared this total by 17.5 points, after all.

The action-packed nature of the series opener was a continuation of a recent trend in this head-to-head matchup.

Since January 2023, the Pacers and Knicks have gone over a 220.5-point total in six of seven meetings. Their average total in that span is 247.1 points.

Key stat: Both the Pacers and Knicks have hit the over in five of seven postseason games so far.

Quick pick

Josh Hart over 28.5 points/rebounds (-117): Hart is never the biggest guy on the court, but he often plays like it.

No rebound seems out of reach when the springy, 6-foot-4 wing is in the mix. And with a confident scoring touch to boot, Hart looks like a nice value at this line.

Even with an 0-for-7 clunker mixed in, Hart has averaged 17.9 points and 12.4 rebounds this postseason. And he's cleared this line in four of seven games.

Hart has played more than 46 minutes per game in the playoffs, too. He's out there, he's involved, and he's coming off a 24-point, 13-rebound effort.

Picks as of 4:10 p.m. on 05/07/2024.