The Cinderella story continues for the Indiana Pacers, now up 2-1 in the NBA Finals as a monster underdog, with a chance to take a commanding 3-1 lead at home on Friday night. However, if the Pacers do go up 3-1, it’ll require matching a historic upset that this franchise also achieved 25 years ago. As a 6-point underdog in the game, Indy is tied as the largest home underdog in the NBA Finals in 25 years — Reggie Miller’s Pacers were 6-point dogs in Game 5 versus the Lakers in 2000, and ultimately won the game by 33 points.
More on how I may bet the Pacers later, but to open this one, I’ll be backing a desperate Thunder team. Much has been made about OKC’s struggles on the road, and they’re for real. After losing Game 3 in Indianapolis, the Thunder are now 4-4 SU and 0-8 ATS in road games this postseason. However, the Thunder have been much better early in games on the road, particularly off a loss.
Following their previous five losses in the postseason, OKC is 4-1 SU/ATS on the first quarter line in the next game. The Thunder’s average lead has been 11.5 points at the end of the quarter, with the shortest lead being six points in Game 2 of this series against the Pacers. Dominating the opening 12 minutes of the games has been a theme for OKC in these NBA Finals. Through three games, the Thunder have owned leads of nine, six and eight points at the end of the first quarter — a perfect 3-0 SU/ATS.
In their most important spot of the season, I trust OKC to come out with more urgency, even on the road. I’ll lay the two points with them for the quarter, but if we can cash that, don’t be surprised if I put out a play on the Pacers catching more than +6 on the live line for the full game.
NBA Finals Game 4 Best Bet: OKC 1Q -2 (-115) – 1-unit
Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app on Apple or Google!
