Filip Tomic
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The Denver Nuggets are aiming to take full control of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat as they host Game 2 at Ball Arena on Sunday night. Tip-off is at 8:30 ET on ABC, and I’ve prepared a Same Game Parlay to spice things up a bit.
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Over 216 total points (-110)
Nikola Jokic 1+ threes made (-310)
Jimmy Butler over 6.5 assists (+112)
Bam Adebayo to record 8+ rebounds (-310)
Same Game Parlay odds: +529
Over 216 total points (-110)
Game 1 was one of the worst games we’ve seen from both teams, at least from an offensive standpoint. Miami went to the free-throw line only twice and shot just 40% from the field, while Denver hit just 8 of 27 attempts from deep. For the Heat to hold the Nuggets to 104 was good considering that they were one of the best offensive teams during the regular season. The Heat do not seem to have an answer for Nikola Jokic, however, as not only can he beat his defender 1-on-1, but he is surrounded by solid players who can hit open shots. For the Heat to make this a competitive game, they will need to hit their 3s. They also need Bam Adebayo to continue to be aggressive as he had a solid game despite the loss with a team-high 26 points. It wouldn’t be a surprise if we see a slight increase in the tempo from both teams, so I’ll take the over.
Make sure you check out our full Miami Heat vs Denver Nuggets Game 2 predictions
Nikola Jokic 1+ threes made (-310)
Other than Bruce Brown, Jokic was the only Nuggets player to shoot 50% or better from 3-point land in the series opener as he went 1-for-2. As a team the Nuggets struggled shooting from distance, but that should not last for the team that has the best true shooting percentage so far this postseason. Jokic started Game 1 slowly, took his time and found his spots. He made 8 field goals on just 12 attempts, but that’s fine for our bet as long as he makes his threes. He’s been knocking them down this postseason at a career-high 47.5% rate and I see no reason why that will change. Right now he is on a 3-game run of at least 1 three made, and in 16 total games this postseason run he’s failed to make a three only in 3 of them. During the regular season he shot 66.7% from deep against Miami, so let’s ride his hot hand while it lasts.
Check out our best Heat vs Nuggets NBA first basket scorer prop bets for Game 2!
Jimmy Butler over 6.5 assists (+112)
Jimmy Butler cleared this line in Game 1, recording 7 dimes, but it was a very unusual game from him as he went to the free-throw line just twice and finished the game with a sub-par 13 points. I expect his aggression level to go up for Game 2, he knows what’s at stake as the Heat look to avoid going 2-0 down in the series. If that happens, they would then need to win 4 of the next 5 games against Denver, which seems very unlikely with the way the Nuggets have played in this postseason. Butler comes up big when the lights shine the brightest as we’ve seen many times. At this point of the season he might not have the proper lift to score 40+ shots, but he can still get his teammates involved. The fact that he was able to collect 7 assists in Game 1 with Caleb Martin, Max Strus and Duncan Robinson combining to shoot just 2-for-23 was impressive. I’m pretty sure all 3 of them cannot do that badly in back-to-back games, so look for Jimmy to add to his assist total from the series opener.
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Bam Adebayo to record 8+ rebounds (-310)
Bam Adebayo was Miami’s best player by far on Thursday with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists. He really took it to Jokic on offense, but it still didn’t make a difference as the Heat fell by 11. Still, Miami will be encouraged by the play of their starting center as he has struggled against Jokic in recent years. After all, he is giving up a lot of size on the inside so it’s natural to assume the bigger guy would dominate this matchup. That hasn’t been the case so far, the Heat were outrebounded by just 2 in the series opener, and Bam was their only player with more than 7 rebounds. He has now cleared this line in 4 consecutive games, grabbing 13, 10, 13 and 8 boards, and in 19 postseason games he’s failed to do it only 3 times. I feel like that’s a big enough sample size for us to back this one with confidence.
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