Best NBA Playoffs Player Prop Bets Today (April 22) (Archive)
What’s unusual about this Friday in the NBA? Could be the last one of the postseason with at least three games. Here is a player prop pick from each with one of BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks.
Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks
Friday, April 22, 2022 – 07:00 PM EDT at State Farm Center
Jimmy Butler
The first game of the night as the series shifts to Atlanta with the Hawks down 2-0 and frankly not very competitive in either of the first two games in Miami. They dearly miss injured big man Clint Capela, although Atlanta may steal this one simply as it has won 20 of its last 23 at home.
Jimmy Butler is a terrific player, an annual All-Star who can shoot, pass, rebound and defend. He’s not really a big-time scorer. Sure, he’ll get you 20 points a night, but he blew up for 45 in Game 2. Butler finished 15-for-25 from the field -- joining Dwyane Wade and LeBron James as the only Heat players with that many made shots in a playoff matchup -- and was 11-for-12 from the foul line.
He had zero turnovers and zero fouls to go with his 45 points, becoming the first player since Hawks Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins in 1988 with such a playoff line.
Even more of a fluke was Butler going 4-for-7 from three-point range – he shot just 23.3 percent from deep in the regular season when he averaged 21.4 points and 0.5 three-pointers made per game.
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All players generally shoot worse on the road. In three of his previous four games, Butler didn’t score more than 22 points. He’s not topping 24 in this one barring overtime. I’m throwing in the three-pointer because it’s only set at 0.5.
Prop Parlay Picks:
- Butler Under 24.5 points (-112)
- Butler Over 0.5 three-pointers (-213)
NBA Pick: Two-legged Parlay (+178) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
Milwaukee Bucks vs. Chicago Bulls
Friday, April 22, 2022 – 08:30 PM EDT at United Center
Jrue Holiday
The Bulls were absolutely dominated by the Bucks in the regular season and frankly have been their bitches for about three seasons. Yet Chicago nearly stole Game 1 of this series in Milwaukee and was clearly the better team in winning Game 2.
I personally gave Chicago zero shot of winning this series when it began, but now it’s possible because Bucks All-Star guard Khris Middleton will miss the rest of it (and probably the next one if the Bucks advance) with an MCL strain. That’s crushing for the team’s repeat hopes, and a thin roster means more will be asked from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday on offense.
Look, Giannis is going to get his numbers so I’m not touching his total of 56.5 points + rebounds + assists. But I think Holiday’s usage is going to go through the roof now. He has had 15 points, six rebounds, and six assists in each of the first two games, which obviously totals 27 and way below this prop number.
Holiday also got 16 shots in each, and I’d expect that to tick up to 20. Also, think he may play 42-43 minutes with Middleton out. Holiday has been a bit unlucky so far as he shot about 62 percent in the restricted area during the regular season but only 50 percent through two games of this series.
NBA Pick: Holiday Over 35.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-115) at BetOnline
Phoenix Suns vs. New Orleans Pelicans
Friday, April 22, 2022 – 09:30 PM EDT at Smoothie King Center
Chris Paul
Milwaukee was of course the Eastern Conference champion last year and has suffered a devastating injury to its All-Star guard in Khris Middleton. Phoenix is the reigning Western Conference champion and suffered a devastating injury to its All-Star guard Devin Booker in the shocking Game 2 home loss to the Pelicans.
Booker reportedly could miss 2-3 weeks with a hamstring strain, which obviously rules him out of this series. The Suns were favored on the NBA futures odds to win the NBA title and the West but now are behind Golden State for both.
While Landry Shamet probably will start for Booker, he’s not worth your time. It will be Chris Paul who will take up a lot of the scoring lost by Booker, who averaged 26.8 points during the regular season and 28.0 in this series despite being limited to 25 minutes in Game 2 due to the injury.
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During the regular season when Paul was on the court and Booker was not, Paul's usage rate increased from finishing 18 percent of the team's plays with a shot, turnover or trip to the free throw line when the two play together to 23 percent without Booker.
Paul did have 30 points in Game 1 when Booker was healthy but only 17 in Game 2 because he was 5-for-16 from the field. Paul should get at least 20 shots here and if he shoots close to 50 percent, we are going over this total because that doesn’t even include free throws and Paul shoots nearly 85 percent from the line.
NBA Pick: Paul Over 20.5 Points (-130) at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.