The exciting NBA Conference Finals continue on Thursday and Friday with some more crucial games. Catch our best spread and player prop bets for the upcoming games right here!
NBA Playoffs Betting Tips: Thursday & Friday
Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Clippers
Staples Center, Thursday 11am AEST
The Clippers dug deep on the road in Game 5 to keep the series alive with an impressive 14-point win in Phoenix. Despite being without Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac, the Clippers got the jump on the Suns early and were able to maintain control of the game throughout all four quarters to secure a thoroughly deserving and crucially important victory.
The Suns are yet to really find their rhythm on offence in this series even though they hold a 3-2 lead. Both Chris Paul and Devin Booker have struggled for consistency with their jump shot, as has important role players Jae Crowder and Mikal Bridges who have combined for 13-44 from deep so far. In contrast, Paul George was magnificent in Game 5 with 41 big points and he had plenty of help with Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris combining for an important 45 points.
Back in Los Angeles for Game 6 and it’s the Clippers who will start as the narrow favourites to win and force a Game 7 in Phoenix. In our opinion, this could legitimately go either way, so we’ll avoid the head-to-head and spread market. Instead, we really like the total points to go under the current line of 214.5, which it has easily done in both games in LA this series with totals of 198 and 184 in Games 3 and 4 respectively. In such a crucial game, we’re expecting both defences to be as tight as ever.
Ivica Zubac’s absence through injury in Game 5 proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Clippers, with Marcus Morris starting in his place and giving them some huge production on offence. He exploded in the first quarter and finished the game with 22 points in 39 minutes. It’s safe to assume he will get a huge chunk of minutes again in Game 6, which will give him every chance to score 15+ points.
Prop: Morris 15+ Points ($2.10)
Total Points Under 214.5
$1.90
Atlanta Hawks at Milwaukee Bucks
Fiserv Forum, Friday 10:30am AEST
Game 4 of this intriguing Eastern Conference Finals series was a terrible one for the Bucks because not only did they get smacked by 22 points, but they also suffered an injury to their best player and 2x MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Thankfully, the Greek Freak has avoided structural damage to his knee, but it’s still likely he misses at least one game due to soreness.
The Bucks team as a whole shot the ball poorly last time out when connecting on just eight of their 39 three-point attempts. On top of that, no Bucks player was able to notch up 20+ points, which is always a recipe for disaster. In contrast, two Hawks players scored 20+ points with Lou Williams (21 points) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (20 points) both stepping up in a big way in Trae Youngs absence.
Both teams have injuries to their superstars, although it’s more likely the Hawks will get Young back for Game 5 than it is Antetokounmpo suiting up for the Bucks. Regardless, we’re expecting a big response from the Bucks back on their home deck after a tough loss, similarly to how they bounced back in Game 2 after losing Game 1. We have them getting the job done and going ahead 3-2 in the series before heading back to Atlanta.
Kevin Huerter took over a bit of the playmaking duties in Game 4 when recording 7 assists along with 15 points and six rebounds. Huerter has proven himself as more than capable of some ball-handling duties and is likely to be relied upon again in Game 5. As a result, we’re keen to be on him to stuff the stat sheet and potentially/hopefully cover 27.5 PRA at big odds.
Prop: Huerter O27.5 PRA ($4)
Milwaukee Bucks -1.5
$1.86
