NBA Playoffs Player Props Bet Picks & Predictions: Friday (Heat vs. Celtics)
The Conference Finals are here! It has been a long time coming but it's been quite an exciting playoff ride so far and the Miami Heat look to continue their playoff hot streak against the Celtics in Boston tonight. With there being only one game, I will provide a trifecta of props for your liking. Remember to shop around for the best odds as they continue to change. I will be placing one unit on each prop.
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Friday’s Best NBA Playoffs Player Props: Heat vs. Celtics
Last Time: 4-2
Season: 40-38 (+4.6% ROI)
Al Horford Over 7.5 points (-108 BetRivers)
In a game where the Heat had the Celtics in their hand, I have to imagine the Celtics stepping up. Al Horford called the team out for not being ready for playoff basketball proceeding the Eastern Conference Final, and now I see him stepping up himself.
He's projected at 10.2 points which makes this an easy bet. With Robert Williams expected beside him in the frontcourt, Horford has the capability to score eight or more points, especially considering he averaged 9.2 this season.
Don't be too scared by his recent performance. It is not only a small sample size, but he is due for some positive regression as he continues to play over 30 minutes of basketball.
Bam Adebayo Over 30.5 Pts + Ast + Reb (-115 BetRivers)
Now Boston is favored by nine points, but they couldn't capitalize on home-court advantage last time. The Celtics do represent a solid defense, but all the props have been focused on playoff Jimmy Butler.
Adebayo earned a 31 percent bet rating from the BettingPros Prop Bet Cheat Sheet, one of the best props of the day. He's been averaging 10 boards a game over the last two weeks in sustainable fashion, with nearly 20 points to go along with that. It's easy to project him at 33 combo prop.
He has a 70 percent chance of hitting this prop, so I fully feel confident throwing one unit on this prop.
Marcus Smart Over 5.5 assists (-135 DraftKings)
I'll start by saying that Jayson Tatum has to do a better job tonight, right? His scoring and facilitating will improve, but to go along with Jaylen Brown having a solid outing, I see Smart capitalizing the most with an assist boost.
After averaging six-plus assists this season, that number is at 7.5 over the last week, as he has gone over 5.5 assists in three of the last five games. Here I see him again being able to easily reach above that threshold simply because I can't imagine the Celtics not scoring more tonight than they did in game one.
Can't say I feel good about this one because Miami seems to have some magic power this playoff, but eventually, that will have to come to a close, at least for some Celtics' play props to hit.
Ryan Coleman is a featured writer at BettingPros. Follow him on Twitter @ryancoleman_98. For more from Ryan, check out his archive.
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