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André Snellings
André Snellings
ESPN Senior Writer
- Dr. André Snellings is a senior writer for men’s and women’s fantasy basketball and sports betting at ESPN. André has a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Michigan. He joined ESPN in 2017 after a 16-year career as a neural engineer, during which time he was also a writer and analyst for Rotowire.
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Eric Moody
Eric Moody
ESPN Writer
- Eric Moody is a writer for fantasy football, men’s and women’s basketball, and sports betting at ESPN. Eric joined ESPN in 2021 after working as a senior fantasy analyst at Pro Football Network. Prior to that, he spent much of his career as a manager at a Fortune 100 financial services company.
May 9, 2025, 12:46 PM ET
On Friday night, the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers look to bounce back from an 0-2 deficit on the road against the Indiana Pacers. Later, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets look to gain a 2-1 advantage in their Western Conference semifinal. You can catch all of the action tonight starting at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Here are some of the bets that stand out for tonight’s games.
Odds are as of publication time. For the most up-to-date odds, visit ESPN BET
Aaron Nesmith over 17.5 points and rebounds (-120). The Pacers return home with a commanding 2-0 lead, while the Cavaliers are dealing with injuries to Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and De’Andre Hunter. Nesmith has played well this postseason, clearing this line in six of seven games. He’s played 27 or more minutes in five of those, and in games where he plays at least 27 minutes, Nesmith’s surpassed this number 65% of the time (15 of 23). Nesmith is in a great spot to go over this line tonight. — Eric Moody
Editor’s Picks
1 Related
Donovan Mitchell over 29.5 points (-120). Mitchell has had to take on a larger scoring role with three high-impact teammates injured. Despite that, Mitchell has locked into a scoring zone, dropping 81 points over the first two games of the series. Mitchell has scored 30 or more points in four of his six playoffs games this season, with the two exceptions both blowout wins in which he played limited minutes. Mitchell has scored 31 or more points in each of his past three games against the Pacers, going back to the regular season. — Andre Snellings
Russell Westbrook over 17.5 total points and rebounds (-125). This prop has increased by one point from Games 1 and 2 (16.5 P+R), but I’m staying here because Westbrook has just consistently gone over. Westbrook has notched at least 18 total points and rebounds in all seven playoffs games when he’s played at least 10 minutes. In his past five games, he has averaged 17.6 PPG and 3.8 RPG (21.4 P+R) with at least 20 combined in all five. In his past five against the Thunder specifically (including playoffs and regular season), Westbrook has averaged 17.2 PPG and 5.0 RPG (22.2 P+R) with at least 20 combined in four of those five games. — Snellings
Second Round Series Odds
Projections and injury reports
Basketball Power Index by ESPN Analytics. Injury aggregation by Rotowire.com. Odds by ESPN BET
All times ET.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Indiana Pacers
7:30 p.m.
Line: Cavaliers -4.5 (-112) | Pacers +4.5 (-102)
Money line: Cavaliers -195 | Pacers +165
Total: 229.5 (-104 O, -110 U)
BPI Projection: Pacers by 1, straight up 53%, 232.7 total points.
Injury Report:
Cavaliers: Darius Garland, (GTD – Toe); De’Andre Hunter, (GTD – Thumb); Evan Mobley, (GTD – Ankle)
Pacers: Isaiah Jackson, (OFS – Achilles)
Oklahoma City Thunder at Denver Nuggets
10 p.m.
Line: Thunder -5.5 (-110) | Nuggets +5.5 (-104)
Money line: Thunder -230 | Nuggets +195
Total: 232.5 (-107 O, -107 U)
BPI Projection: Thunder by 4.4, straight up 64%, 231.4 total points.
Injury Report:
Thunder: Nikola Topic, (OFS – Knee)
Nuggets: DaRon Holmes II, (OFS – Achilles)
