What a time to be alive if you’re an NBA fan! The first weekend of NBA Playoff games is in the books and on Monday we get the first batch of Game 2s coming our way. It’ll be the Raptors and Cavaliers starting us off at 7 pm ET, followed by an intense clash at the Garden between the Hawks and Knicks an hour later. The Timberwolves and Nuggets cap off the night at 10.30 pm ET, live on NBC.
I cashed on both of my NBA Player Prop Bets on Saturday, improving my record to 8-1-1 on these for the season. I’ve picked out my two favorite bets from tonight’s 3-game slate, so let’s take a deep dive into my bets for Monday, April 20. Don’t forget to go over our NBA Picks for all upcoming NBA postseason games!
Best NBA player prop bet: Donte DiVincenzo (MIN) Over 9.5 Points (-154)
DiVincenzo came out blazing hot for the Timberwolves in the series opener, actually scoring the team’s first two field goals, both long-distance bombs. He is undoubtedly one of the more experienced postseason performers on this Wolves roster and moving forward I think they will continue to rely on him heavily on the offensive end. Ant Man and Jaden McDaniels are still feeling the effects of their knee injuries, if Game 1 is any indicator he could be up for a big series.
The four threes made and 12 points scored in Game 1 were just a continuation of his solid play that’s been going on all season long. He’s cleared this line in 57 of 83 games played total this season which is a success rate of 69%. That number has stayed consistent in road games as well (29/42), he will enter Monday’s game having scored in double figures in his last 5 away games. The Nuggets are one of his favorite opponents to play, he’s cleared this line in 5 of the last 6 meetings, averaging 11.3 points.
Don’t miss our expert best bets for every NBA playoff game tonight
Best NBA player prop bet: Sam Merrill (CLE) 2+ Made Threes (-169)
Although he failed to clear this line in the opener on Saturday, I still have high hopes for Merrill moving forward in this series. Whenever you have a played like James Harden at the helm of the offense, you will get great looks, so all Merrill has to do is find those open spots in Game 2. He took only 4 shots total in Game 1, well below his average of 9.3 that he took during the regular season.
This season was his 2nd most efficient from three-point line in his career, Merrill converted on 42.1% of his attempts while making 3 per game. The over on him has cashed in 75% of games played (40/53), while in games played at home that’s happened in 17 of 24 games which is a 71% hit rate. The Raptors didn’t do anything special to contain him on Saturday, they just got lucky he didn’t take as many shots as he normally does. Look for the sharpshooter to bounce back on Monday.
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