NBA Postseason Best Bets (5/17)
Alex Christenson
Most of the NBA teams have three games or fewer to play in the 2022-23 NBA regular season. The 10 teams in the Eastern Conference are set. They may jostle around position and home court advantage in the series over the next few days, but the Orlando Magic were eliminated Tuesday, leaving exactly 10 teams for the playoffs.
In the West we have the Pelicans and Timberwolves one win away from punching their tickets to the playoffs. Currently the Oklahoma City Thunder hold the last spot with Dallas and Utah still alive and within half a game. Motivation has to be taken into consideration at this point in the season.
Wednesday’s injury report is a good example of why. Make sure you are active in the FTN Bets NBA Discord channel as that is the best place to get the updated injury news and the potential impact it will have on the day’s prop bet market. For now, here are my NBA best bets for Wednesday.
Best NBA Points Prop Bets
Immanuel Quickley Over 25.5 Points
I know this is a lot of points for Immanuel Quickley, but this is a perfect set up for him. Julius Randle was out and now Jalen Brunson is joining him on the bench. In 11 games with Brunson out, Quickley has managed to score 25 or more points in seven of those games. Indiana is a bottom-five defense in terms of points allowed per 100 possessions and they still play at a top 10 pace, even without Tyrese Halliburton running the show. RJ Barrett is also questionable. I like Quickley even if Barrett plays. If Barrett sits though, I love him as the only other viable volume scorer left in the lineup.
Nic Claxton Over 12.5 Points
Nic Claxton had a monster game of 27 points and 13 rebounds the last time he faced the Detroit Pistons. That was back in January, but Claxton has been a bigger piece of the Nets offense since then anyway. The Detroit Pistons allow the third-most points per 100 possessions of any team in the NBA. They are a top 10 matchup this year for opposing big men too, so this is a great spot for the Brooklyn big man.
Best NBA Rebound Prop Bet
Kawhi Leonard Under 7.5 Rebounds
Kawhi Leonard is a beast. Without Paul George, he has to take on more of the scoring load. As good a rebounder as Kawhi is, he has only topped 7.5 rebounds in one of his last seven games. We project Kawhi for under 6, and some books already dropped this number down to 6.5 rebounds as some others have the 7.5 rebound under juiced all the way to -140. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both active for the Lakers, which also means the matchup for Kawhi is not an easy one to rack up any type of stats.
