Legal Sports Betting

The Best Pacers vs. Wizards Player Prop Picks (May 20, 2021)

By Russ Joy

Published: May 20th, 2021 · 11:14 AM EDT

---

The second and final round of the NBA’s Play-In Tournament begins Thursday night as the Washington Wizards will play host to the Indiana Pacers at the Capital One Arena. The winner of this contest will claim the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed and secure a first round playoff matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Let’s take a closer look at the top Pacers vs. Wizards prop picks and make some predictions for this May 20, 2021 matchup.

Pacers vs. Wizards Player Prop Picks (May 20, 2021)

The Washington Wizards finished the regular season at 34-38 with a temporary hold on the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. They took on the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night for a shot at the seventh seed, but fell 118-100 in Beantown. In that game, Bradley Beal was only able to put up 22 points and clearly appeared to be less that 100% due to injury. Meanwhile, his backcourt partner Russell Westbrook dropped 20 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in the loss. Only Ish Smith (17) and Daniel Gafford (12) joined Beal and Westbrook as double-digit point scorers for the Wizards in that game.

If you’re in PA, click here and use promo code NBA200 to get Unibet PA and get a bet $20, win $200 offer on the NBA play-in tournament.

In any other year, the Indiana Pacers would have missed the postseason via a tiebreaker loss to the Wizards, who owned an identical 34-38 record. However, with the NBA’s new Play-In Tournament, Indiana have an opportunity to play out a new tiebreaker of their own. The Pacers downed the Charlotte Hornets in style via a 144-117 victory on Tuesday night and will look to pull off a road win against the Wizards in the nation’s capital on Thursday night. Miles Bridges (23), Cody Zeller (17), Terry Rozier (16), LaMelo Ball (14), and Malik Monk (13) each dropped double-digit points in the blowout win.

Which team will secure a playoff berth?

 

Bradley Beal to Score Under 31.5 Points (-115, FOX Bet)

If there’s one player in this game who could fundamentally alter the course of a game and make a first round playoff series more difficult than it should be, it’s Bradley Beal. It took a Herculean effort from Steph Curry down the stretch to dethrone Beal as the NBA’s scoring champion. However, it’s worth noting that Beal missed three consecutive games before returning for the regular season finale against the Charlotte Hornets, in which he shot 8-27 from the field for 25 points. He followed that up with a 22-point effort on 10-25 shooting, including just 1-6 from beyond the arc.

It’s fair to question how effective Beal will be against Indiana as he’s still dealing with a hamstring strain that has hampered his mobility. In fact, Beal joked after the game against Boston that you can call him the “one-leg bandit”. While we expect him to put up 24+ field goal attempts in this one, his lack of mobility will hinder his attempts at the rim and the loss of strength in his base could throw off his jumper just enough to keep him below 31.5 points in a do-or-die game for his squad.

Click here to get a $500 bonus bet with FOX Bet PA. Get it in NJ by clicking here.

 

Russell Westbrook to Record Under 53.5 Combined Points, Rebounds, and Assists (-115, DraftKings Sportsbook)

To be clear, Russell Westbrook is a guy we typically wouldn’t advise betting against, but 53.5 combined points, rebounds, and assists is absolutely bonkers. He’s a walking triple-double, but the numbers are worth diving into.

Westbrook shot just 6-18 from the field against the Celtics, including 0-4 from beyond the arc for 20 points. He also pulled down 14 rebounds and dished out five assists, for a total of 39. He tallied 10 triple-doubles in his last 12 regular season games including:

• 4/26/21 v. SAS: 22 PTS, 13 REB, 14 AST (49)
• 4/28/21 v. LAL: 18 PTS, 18 REB, 14 AST (50)
• 4/30/21 @ CLE: 15 PTS, 12 REB, 11 AST (38)
• 5/1/21 @DAL: 42 PTS, 10 REB, 9 AST (61)
• 5/3/21 v. IND: 14 PTS, 21 REB, 24 AST (59)
• 5/5/21 @MIL: 29 PTS, 12 REB, 17 AST (58)
• 5/6/21 @ TOR: 13 PTS, 17 REB, 17 AST (47)
• 5/8/21 @ IND: 33 PTS, 19 REB, 15 AST (67)
• 5/10/21 @ ATL: 28 PTS, 13 REB, 21 AST (62)
• 5/12/21 @ ATL: 34 PTS, 5 REB, 15 AST (54)
• 5/14/21 v. CLE: 21 PTS, 12 REB, 17 AST (50)
• 5/16/21 v. CHO: 23 PTS, 15 REB, 10 AST (48)

While Westbrook had a strong stretch from May 1-10, it’s worth noting that his numbers on either end of that streak were at or below 54 combined points, rebounds, and assists. We expect Westbrook to force the issue with poor, quality shots, and while his tenacity on the boards could put this market in jeopardy, the hampered Bradley Beal along with underachiever Davis Bertans could hurt Westbrook’s assist opportunities.

Click here to get started with DraftKings Sportsbook and lock in 40-1 odds on the NBA Playoffs this month.

 

Malcolm Brogdon to Score Over 26.5 Combined Points and Assists (-120, BetMGM)

There’s some real boom-or-bust potential with this market, which has identical odds as Brogdon to score over 20.5 points independent of the assists portion of this one. Like Bradley Beal, Brogdon is recovering from a hamstring injury, but unlike Beal, Brogdon missed the final ten games of the regular season to get as close to 100% as possible.

In Indiana’s blowout win over the Hornets, Brogdon shot 6-10 from the field, including 3-5 from deep for 16 points, while dishing out eight assists in just 21 minutes of game action. We expect Brogdon to see an uptick in minutes in a must-win game, which could pay dividends for the Pacers and the player himself. Keep in mind that the versatile guard averaged a team-high 21.5 points and 10.0 assists per game this season, while pulling down the third-most rebounds per game (4.3) for Indiana.

Prior to his injury, Brogdon had crossed the 26.5 combined points and assists threshold in four of his last six games. If Indiana is to have any shot of pulling off a road win and securing the eighth seed, it’ll be on the back of Brogdon.

Click here to bet $20, win $100 guaranteed with a no-brainer BetMGM promo.