The NBA Playoffs continue Wednesday with a matchup that could end the Eastern Conference’s series for the No. 1 seed while another top-seeded team is tied with their No. 5 seed opponent in the Western Conference semifinals.
In Boston, the Celtics will look to finish off the short-handed Cavaliers on Wednesday night while the Dallas Mavericks continue to battle with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the right to advance to the Western Conference championship game.
With both teams having so much on the line, which players can bettors count on to deliver in the NBA Playoffs? We’ll cover our top four player prop bets for the playoff matchups on Wednesday, May 15 below.
Cleveland Cavaliers’ Max Strus OVER 5.5 Rebounds
In Game 4, Cleveland held tough despite missing guard Donovan Mitchell. Without their star, the Cavaliers dropped a 109-102 decision to the Celtics, and now the teams face off again in Boston on Wednesday night.
In Mitchell’s absence, guard Max Strus played his most playoff minutes in a single game with 43 total logged Monday night. Strus fouled out of the contest, but the 6-foot-5 athlete logged 15 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists in a noble effort.
With or without Mitchell available for Game 5, expect Strus to grab at least six rebounds tonight and cover this player prop bet.
Boston Celtics’ Derrick White OVER 2.5 3-Point Field Goals
To win Game 4 and take a 3-1 series lead over Cleveland, the Celtics relied on their strong defense and reliable shooting. Defensively, Boston held the Cavs to under 44 percent shooting while the Celtics themselves finished the game at nearly 49 percent from the field.
One of the team’s long-range assassins is guard Derrick White. The 6-foot-4 point guard has shot over 43 percent from the three-point line during the postseason, and he’s averaging 3.7 made 3-point field goals each night.
Expect White to score at least three times from behind the arc to cover this NBA Playoff player prop bet.
Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic UNDER 46.5 Pts + Reb + Ast
Dallas lost their series advantage as the team fell 100-96 to Oklahoma City Monday night, evening the series at two wins apiece. The Mavericks were statistically better than Oklahoma City in every category except the free throw shooting percentage.
The Thunder went 23-of-24 from the line while Dallas made just 12 of their 23 charity tosses. Mavericks guard Luka Doncic also missed a significant chunk of shots, finishing the game 6-of-20 from the field in the loss.
For the series, he’s averaging 22.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.8 assists for a combined 40.6 combo average. His combined total of these three stat categories has not climbed above 46 this entire series, giving bettors confidence in this pick.
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren UNDER 15.5 Points
Part of the Thunder’s excellent shooting percentage in Monday’s victory was Chet Holmgren’s performance. From the field, the 7-foot-1 rookie sank six of his nine field goals while also going 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
In total, Oklahoma City’s power forward scored 18 points to nearly match his series high. Rookies are notorious for being unable to string together solid performances in back-to-back games during the playoffs.
Holmgren is not an exception as the former Gonzaga player has contributed point totals of six points to 26 points over his eight-game playoff career. Expect the forward to struggle to replicate his point total from Monday and take the under wager here.
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