NBA Finals Game 3: Best Bets and Predictions for Thunder vs. Pacers - Home-Court Advantage and Scoring Trends
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers are set to face off in Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals, with the Thunder looking to extend their lead to 2-1. The Thunder emerged victorious in Game 2, beating the Pacers 123-107 and covering the 11.5-point spread, and the game's total points also crept over the 228-point mark on a layup by James Johnson in the final seconds. The Thunder opened as 4.5-point road favorites in Indiana for Game 3, but the line was pushed out to 5.5 by the money coming in on Oklahoma City. The total is set at 227.5 at BetMGM, and the public is backing Oklahoma City and the over, with 54% of the wagers on the Thunder to cover and 67% of bets on the over. BetMGM trader Halvor Egeland commented on the betting trends, saying, "We're as balanced as it can really be on the spread at the moment. Less than 1% difference in total bet money. A little bit more on the Thunder moneyline than the Pacers, but only slightly. Thunder winning would actually be the better result for us. Pretty one-sided on the total so far. Bettors are liking the over." Handicappers Michael Fiddle, Jason Logan, and Jon Metler shared their thoughts on some of the best bets for Game 3 of the finals: Fiddle: "I love Oklahoma City in Game 3. If we understand the value of home-court advantage, it decreases as the rounds go on in the postseason. There’s less of a shock factor and players are more used to it. I have every outcome tracked for the last three seasons, and 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are the most important numbers against the spread in the postseason. A six-point move [OKC -11.5 at home to -5.5 on the road] is still too much for me, especially through numbers that have a lot of value. I think this closes 6 or 6.5." Logan: "Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been fantastic in the first two games of the NBA Finals, but taking the under on scoring with any superstar is an uncomfortable wager to sit through. The series shifts to Indiana, so OKC is expected to take a step back offensively as we’ve seen in the postseason so far. SGA’s scoring clip has also been dampened by [insert reason here]."
