Entering Tuesday, every NBA postseason series has gone at least four games. The results are interesting as the top two seeds – Oklahoma City and Cleveland – have swept their opponents. Nearly every other series has one team leading the best-of-seven by a 3-1 margin.
Every series except the one between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers. Entering Game 5, these two teams are knotted at two wins each after both squads won a road contest in this series.
With Tuesday’s matchup a pivotal contest, can the Nuggets hold onto their homecourt advantage, or will the Clippers pull off another impressive road victory? We’ll cover that and provide bettors with our three favorite player prop bets for this Western Conference playoff contest.
Los Angeles Clippers PG James Harden OVER 2.5 3-Pt Field Goals Made
Earlier this season, Clippers guard James Harden surpassed Hall of Famer Ray Allen for second place on the all-time three-point shooting list. He’s comfortably alone in that position now, becoming only the second player to have made more than 3,000 three-pointers in their NBA career.
That’s why bettors should be salivating over this line. In three of the four outings against Denver, he’s made at least three trifectas against the Nuggets. The only time he didn’t was Game 4, and he uncharacteristically shot only two long-range shots. He’ll remedy that on Tuesday, covering this player prop bet.
Denver Nuggets C Nikola Jokic UNDER 51.5 Pts + Reb + Ast
MVP candidate Nikola Jokic exploded in Game 4, scoring 36 points, grabbing 21 boards, and dishing out eight assists to propel his team to a road victory. The prevailing theory would be now that he’s produced these eye-popping stats, he’ll do it again on Tuesday at home.
While he was more productive during home games compared to his road contests, the Clippers are this Superman’s kryptonite. In six of the seven games he’s played against Los Angeles, he’s finished with less than 50 combined points, rebounds, and assists. Expect that trend to continue on Tuesday as he fails to cover his player prop bet.
Los Angeles Clippers SF Kawhi Leonard OVER 24.5 Points
Conventional wisdom would also suggest that Los Angeles forward Kawhi Leonard would fall short of his player prop bet on Tuesday. In three of the first four postseason games he’s played against Denver, the 6-foot-7 player has scored 24 or fewer points.
Still, his lone breakthrough was on the road in Game 2. Leonard poured in a team-high 39 points – his highest point total in either the regular season or postseason – to spur the Clippers to victory. Bettors should expect him to have another strong outing on Tuesday, covering this player prop wager at a minimum.
Best Bet: UNDER 208.5 Points
This series has been a slight departure from the run-and-gun NBA scene with both teams scoring well over 100 points. Only the first game – and overtime contest no less – produced a score above 208 points. That makes taking the under on the total points the savviest wager for bettors.
As for the winner, I’m leaning strongly toward Denver. The Nuggets have the championship pedigree, and a home contest in the Mile High City could help this squad hold serve in the fifth game of this best-of-seven series.
