4 Best NBA Player Prop Bets for Thursday, May 9: Bank On Large Game from Garland!

The NBA’s Western Conference semifinals resume tonight as the Dallas Mavericks travel to face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, May 9. In the early game tonight, the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Boston Celtics play host to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Both top-seeded teams hold a 1-0 advantage in the series. Can Cleveland and Dallas knot up their respective series with wins tonight? We’ll cover our top four NBA Playoff player prop bets below and continue our month-long hot streak of hitting above 60 percent on these prop predictions.

Cleveland Cavaliers’ Darius Garland OVER 16.5 Points

Boston secured their series-opening win over the Cavaliers by outsourcing the team by outscoring Cleveland in every quarter and then used a 13-4 run to put the game out of reach to start the fourth period.

Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell failed to reach 40 or more points for a fifth straight game, finishing with 33 points in the loss. For Cleveland to have a chance, the team needs Darius Garland to be a strong finishing punch to Mitchell’s initial hit.

Garland averaged 20.3 points in the regular season against the Celtics, and the 14-point effort in Tuesday’s loss was in line with his playoff average. Expect the Cavaliers to get Garland involved early and often on Thursday to cover this player prop bet.

Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown UNDER 6.5 Rebounds

Boston cruised to their fifth victory in the playoffs by holding Cleveland to 41 percent shooting from the floor and just 26 percent at the three-point line on Tuesday night. What’s more impressive is the team’s ability to crush opponents down a starting big man to patrol the middle of the paint.

Without Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, everyone on the Boston roster is being asked to rebound to offset his 7.2 boards per outing contribution. Celtics guard Jaylen Brown has added one rebound per outing more to his total in the playoffs, but the 6’ 6” guard is spending a ton of energy defensively against Cleveland. Expect Brown once again to fail to meet this prop bet.

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Josh Giddey UNDER 3.5 Assists

Oklahoma City earned its fifth playoff win this year behind a stout defensive effort. Dallas turned the ball over 15 times in their loss while being outrebounded 52-39 on the night. The Thunder moved the ball effectively as a team in the 117-95 blowout, finishing the night with assists on 29 of the team’s 40 field goals.

Oklahoma City shooting guard Josh Giddey played limited minutes against the Mavericks, finishing his night with 17 total minutes logged against Dallas. Backup guard Aaron Wiggins logged significantly more minutes in Game 1, a trend bettors should expect to continue Thursday night. Giddey cannot be counted on to cover the over on this player prop bet.

Dallas Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving OVER 32.5 Pts + Reb + Ast

The Thunder put away Dallas in the middle of the fourth quarter, using a 10-1 run to blow up a game that was in reach for the Mavericks. It didn’t help matters that the Mavericks shot just 39 percent from the floor while Oklahoma poured in 16 3-point field goals shooting 46 percent from behind the arc.

In the regular season, Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving went for 30.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per outing against Oklahoma City. Bettors should expect Tuesday’s performance to be a fluke and expect Irving to have a strong rebound in tonight’s game as the athlete will cover this player prop bet against the Thunder.