Germantas Kneita
The Phoenix Suns will be visiting the Denver Nuggets for Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. It is the day’s only NBA action and will be shown live on TNT. The teams split their 4-game regular-season series with both sides taking wins on their home court. If the Suns want to advance to the Western Conference Finals, they will have to buck that trend.
You can check out our NBA picks on the side and total today’s games, but for now, let’s dive into my favorite NBA player prop bets for tonight.
Jamal Murray Over 22.5 points (-120)
Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray loves the postseason. So far in the playoffs he is averaging 27 points per game, scoring 24 or more points in 3 of his 5 games. The 2 games in which he failed to do so happened to be on the road. With Game 1 taking place in Denver, we should see another big scoring performance from him.
Murray will be going up a Suns backcourt that features an undersized guard duo in Chris Paul and Devin Booker. The latter has the lowest defensive rating of all of the visitors starters. The home team will be targeting him tonight, with Murray being best placed in the backcourt to do it. Russell Westbrook took advantage of this in the last round, upping his points per game to 23.8 per night against the Suns. It should allow Murray to maintain his scoring average in the playoffs.
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Nikola Jokic Over 1.5 made threes (+170)
Nikola Jokic has been locked in from the perimeter so far in the playoffs. He is making 50% of his shots from beyond the arc, which has encouraged him to attack from out there more. In each of the last 2 games he took 8 3-pointers. That was against Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves. With the Suns having Deandre Ayton in the paint, do not be surprised to see Jokic take the same approach tonight.
Jokic has played against the Suns twice this season, knocking down a couple of triples both times. The Suns allowed the Clippers to make 36.1% of their 3-point attempts in the first round. That mark would have them ranked tied for 17th in the regular season in opponent 3-point percentage. Their perimeter defense has not been outstanding, and an in-form Jokic should punish them for it.
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