The Knicks are one win over the Celtics away from heading to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Here are the best player props to consider for Karl-Anthony Towns on DraftKings Sportsbook for Wednesday night’s Game 5 in Boston.
Best Karl-Anthony Towns Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
The Knicks are 4.5-point underdogs against the Celtics, with an o/u of 207.5. Here are the latest lines for Karl-Anthony Towns on DraftKings Sportsbook: o/u 19.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 three-pointers.
The Knicks have a chance to clinch the series against the Celtics in Boston tonight and head to the Eastern Conference Finals. It has been a series full of fascinating storylines. The Celtics blew 20-point leads in each of the first two games in Boston, then dominated New York in Game 3 to get back into the series. The Knicks then played their best game of the series in a pivotal Game 4 to take back total control. Also, Jayson Tatum went down with an Achilles injury in the final minutes of Game 4. Without Tatum, the climb out of a 3-1 hole will be even harder for Boston, both physically and mentally. Tatum was carrying them on Monday with a fantastic individual performance and it still wasn’t enough. Without their primary threat, the defensive matchups get much easier across the board for the Knicks. They should be able to cover the role players like Derrick White and Payton Pritchard with more care and slow the Celtics down.
Karl-Anthony Towns will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the absence of Tatum. Towns has struggled defensively in this series, getting put into pick-and-rolls with Tatum and being forced to switch onto him. Tatum was taking advantage of the fact that he could get easy buckets once Towns was guarding him. That caused Mitchell Robinson to get increasingly more minutes to provide a better defensive option for New York. Towns will have an easier time at that end of the floor without Tatum, which should also help him be more focused and have more energy on the offensive end. It has been an up-and-down offensive postseason for Towns, but he has found a bit of a groove over his past three games. Since Game 2, he is averaging 21.6 points and 13.0 rebounds per contest.
My favorite Towns prop for Game 5 is for him to score over 19.5 points. He has hit this number in three straight games, and life should only get easier for him without Tatum on the floor. Towns has found different ways to get it done over the last couple of games, as well. He has struggled to shoot from the perimeter all postseason, but in Game 4, he worked on his post-up game and got a lot of good shots around the rim. He ended up shooting 11-for-14 from the floor in an incredibly efficient performance. In Game 3, Towns did a great job of getting to the free throw line, shooting 10-for-11 from the stripe. If Towns can get the ball in the paint, he should either get fouled or get easy buckets. With so much attention being shown to Jalen Brunson, Towns should get some favorable matchups in the paint to get some easy looks.
