NBA Wednesday: 2 Player Props and Best Bet for April 23

In Wednesday’s NBA action, the Celtics are Jayson Tatum-less as they look to take a 2-0 series lead over an Orlando team that can’t seem to get anything going on the offensive end against one of the best defenses in the league.

The key matchup tonight will be the tightly contested Houston/Golden State game. We are looking at one sharpshooting veteran to bring the Rockets a victory and split this series up before heading to The Bay.

Best Bet: Celtics -10.5 over Magic

Boston comes into Game 2 without their superstar Jayson Tatum. After a sloppy first half against Orlando in their opening game, the C’s dominated the second half, allowing the Magic to score just 37 second-half points.

That right there is the story and why Boston will cover. Orlando’s offense will stall at the worst possible time, as we have seen time and time again this season. Boston is 8-2 without JT this season, and those two losses, funny enough, are against this Magic squad.

Mazzulla won’t turn in a 0-3 record without Tatum against this team, and with White, Pritchard, and Porzingis playing some great basketball, give me Boston by 11 or more at home.

Ty Jerome (CLE) 15+ Points (+180)

I’m surprised Jerome has plus odds at this number. Ty has dropped 15+ points in his L4, including a staggering 28 points in 26 minutes in the Cavs’ convincing Game 1 victory over Miami.

Ty dropped 16 fourth-quarter points on 3/3 from downtown to lead Cleveland to the win, and he will once again play a big part in their Game 2 game plan. Miami hounds the Cleveland ball handlers and will give Garland some trouble on the defensive end.

Although Jerome averaged 20 MPG during the regular season, I think he’ll play more like 25-30 MPG for Atkinson in this series, especially with Miami’s relenting defense and constant rotations.

Dillon Brooks (HOU) OVER 15.5 Points & Rebounds

Dillon Brooks scored 11 points in 34 minutes in Houston’s Game 1 loss to Golden State, where nothing was falling on the offensive end. After an extremely low-scoring game, Game 2 should open up a bit more, and shots should fall for both sides that failed to fall a few nights ago.

Brooks has hit this prop mark in two of four games since returning to the court in mid-April while playing around 30 MPG. As the key veteran in this starting lineup alongside VanVleet, Brooks will play 30 minutes once again.

Brooks is an impact player on the defensive end against Curry and Butler, but also on offense, where Jalen Green should apply pressure on the Warriors’ paint area while finding Brooks for a handful of open 3s. After shooting two of five from deep in Game 1, I’m looking for DB to shoot around 7 threes in this one, closer to his regular-season average.