After a couple days off, the NBA Finals return tonight as the Oklahoma City Thunder square off with the Indiana Pacers in Game 5. With the series deadlocked at two games apiece, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander must continue his heroics to take the lead this evening.
Here are the best Shai Gilgeous-Alexander prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for Thunder vs. Pacers Game 5.
Best Shai Gilgeous-Alexander prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
As the series shifts back to Oklahoma City tonight, the Thunder are nine-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook. The team holds -425 odds on the Moneyline while the Pacers are a +330 underdog to win outright. The game total sits at 224.5 combined points.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s prop lines are listed at 34.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 1.5 three-pointers. His combined PTS + REB + AST line currently reads 46.5 across the three major categories.
Across his 20 games this postseason, SGA averages 30.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists. Looking toward the four games of this series so far, his scoring output jumps to 32.8 PPG but with lesser peripheral production of 5.3 rebounds and just 3.8 assists.
Through the four NBA Finals games thus far, it’s evident that Gilgeous-Alexander is trying to put the team on his back. His points tallies read 38, 34, 24, and 35, which explains why his scoring prop line looks so high tonight at 34.5. Personally, that’s one I’m looking to avoid in this outing due to such a lofty mark.
Instead, I’m pivoting over to the assists market for now. The -140 odds on this prop bet may not seem like the most exciting value, but I’m targeting under 6.5 assists in this spot. Gilgeous-Alexander has split his 20 games in the assist column with 10 games over the 6.5 line and another 10 games under it, so it’s essentially a coin toss. Looking at this series in particular, he’s gone under that 6.5-assist mark in three of four games.
Despite averaging 10.3 potential assists in this series, Shai has posted just 3.8 assists per game with totals of three, eight, four, and zero. The Thunder haven’t quite seen a total explosion on offense aside from their Game 2 win, and it does look like their shooters are bothered some by the Pacers’ scrappy defenders while shooting just 45.4% from the field and 36.5% from three. SGA has the potential to go over his assists line, but until his teammates start knocking down shots, I expect him to keep going under (especially as he continues hunting his own looks).
