We hope you had as much fun watching the first games of the NBA playoffs as we did! There were more blowouts than we expected, but the close games were certainly something to behold. Every team seems to have an energy and a belief that their team can go all the way this year, which should make the playoffs exciting all the way through.
There are three games tipping off tonight, which is the matchup between the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers, a game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks, and the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets will close out the evening.
After studying the slate, we’ve put together our favorite player prop from each game, all of which can be found on Underdog. Let’s get after it!
Live player props data coming soon for Franz Wagner.
Franz Wagner OVER 8.5 Rebounds & Assists
The Orlando Magic struggled a bit against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1. They lost by 14 points, largely due to the fact that their offense couldn’t get anything going early on.
We expect that to change in Game 2, with Franz Wagner slated to be a big part of the action. Wagner is a great rebounder and distributor for this team, and if they want to beat the Cavs, he’ll need to have at least nine combined rebounds and assists to make that happen.
Live player props data coming soon for Josh Hart.
Josh Hart OVER 12.5 Points
Josh Hart was a beast in Game 1 for the New York Knicks. Not only did he score 22 points in that matchup, but he provided some much-needed late-game heroics down the stretch as well.
Jalen Brunson might be the star, the MVP of this team, but, as evidenced by his performance in Game 1, Hart could easily be a 20-plus point scorer for this team as well. We like his odds of scoring at least 20 in this game, which is why we’re taking the over on his 12.5-point total here.
Live player props data coming soon for LeBron James.
LeBron James UNDER 25.5 Points
It might sound silly to bet against LeBron in the playoffs but hear us out. Lebron was incredibly efficient in Game 1 against the Nuggets, scoring 27 points while shooting 62.5% from the field.
It will be difficult for him to replicate this performance, which is why we’re taking the under for LeBron in this spot.
