RADIO
The NBA brings us a pair of games on Tuesday, both compelling matchups that offer plenty of chances to play props and win with Monkey Knife Fight.
The defending-champion Toronto Raptors got blitzed by the Boston Celtics in Game One, falling behind early and they couldn’t recover. If the Raptors are going to make a series of it, they need to show up in Game Two.
The marquee game of the night has Donovan Mitchell taking on Jamal Murray. Well, technically, it’s the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets squaring off in Game Seven of what has been an entertaining series, one highlighted by the two scoring guards absolutely going off. Can they both stay hot under the pressure of Game Seven?
Here are some prop angles to consider for Tuesday’s Monkey Knife Fight NBA schedule:
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BOSTON-TORONTO
MORE OR LESS
Jayson Tatum MORE THAN 25.5 POINTS
In Game One, the Raptors pretty much held Tatum in check, holding him to 21 points, which would have seemed like a win. However, the Celtics were in control for virtually the entire game and Tatum only went to the free-throw line once. He does tend to fluctuate in terms of aggressiveness and how often he will get to the line but if Tatum shoots 50% from the field like he did in Game One, he will probably get to the line more in Game Two, increasing his chances of scoring 26 or more.
Pascal Siakam LESS THAN 21.5 POINTS
One of the main reasons to believe that the Raptors had a legitimate shot to defend their title was the emergence of Siakam this season, becoming a front-line scorer who averaged 22.9 points per game. Unfortunately, he finished up the regular season shooting 39.4% in the last eight games, leading into the postseason where he has shot 39.8% from the field in five games. If Siakam isn’t making shots, it’s going to be really tough for the Raptors to score enough and, right now, there isn’t much reason to believe that Siakam is going to start knocking them down.
Kemba Walker LESS THAN 21.5 POINTS
Boston’s point guard averaged just 14.2 points per game in six bubble games at the end of the regular season but picked up his play against Philadelphia in Round One, putting up 24.3 points per game in the four-game sweep. Walker was held to 18 points in Game One against Toronto and it may not be reasonable to expect him to go off against either Kyle Lowry or Fred Vanvleet – neither is exceptionally fast for the position but both are physically strong and quality defenders.
RAPID FIRE
Fred VanVleet +0.5 assists vs. Kyle Lowry
Speaking of that Raptors point guard duo, VanVleet has been doing more of the distributing in the playoffs, averaging 7.8 assists per game. Lowry, battling through an ankle injury, did register eight assists in Game One against Boston, a total he has surpassed just once in 11 games in the Orlando bubble.
UTAH-DENVER
MORE OR LESS
Donovan Mitchell LESS THAN 35.5 POINTS
Let’s get this out of the way first: this is a ridiculous number, requiring an NBA player to score at least 36 points just to cash in. But (and you knew there was a ‘but’), Mitchell is averaging 42 points per game in the first six games against Denver. He has scored at least 36 in three of those games, including 57 in Game One of the series, so it’s legitimately a close call, and the Jazz will lean on him in Game Seven, but that’s still a lot of points.
Jamal Murray MORE THAN 33.5 POINTS
The Pride of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, Murray has gone on hot streaks, including in last year’s playoffs, but his current run is something different. In the past three games, Murray has dropped 142 points on the Jazz (47.3 per game), shooting 64.2% from the field and 62.9% on threes. Utterly ridiculous. Even if it’s reasonable to expect those numbers to tail off, he still might be able to find his way to 34.
Rudy Gobert LESS THAN 12.5 REBOUNDS
The Stifle Tower is a terrific rebounder and yet has managed 13 or more rebounds just once through the first six games of the series. Denver having Nikola Jokic, a 7-footer of their own, to patrol the paint makes it a little more difficult for Gobert to take full advantage of his size on the boards.
RAPID FIRE
Joe Ingles +2.5 assists vs. Nikola Jokic
Jokic is a fabulous talent, able to contribute in so many ways, and he has chipped in 5.7 assists per game against Utah (along with 25.7 points and 7.2 rebounds) and while that is true, it’s asking a lot for him to put up three more assists than Ingles, who has put up 4.7 assists per game so far in this series.
