After a rousing overtime game, the Philadelphia 76ers captured a must-win Game 5 NBA Playoff game against the New York Knicks on Tuesday, April 30.
While the 76ers continue to trail the Knicks 3-2 in the series, Philadelphia can force a deciding best-of-series finale by beating New York on their home court Thursday.
With the Knicks and 76ers both in desperation mode, what can bettors expect from these two teams tonight in the Wells Fargo Center? We’ll cover that and three of the best player prop bets for tonight’s matchup in this Game 6 coverage.
In the pivotal Game 5, Philadelphia’s starters scored 98 of the team’s 112 points. The 76ers were led by Tyrese Maxey as the guard poured in a series-best 46 points against the Knicks to send the playoff series back to Philadelphia.
If the 76ers want a return trip to Madison Square Garden for Game 7, Maxey will need to have a solid game again tonight. The guard has scored 32.4 points per game in this series, and three times the 6’ 2” fourth-year player has finished over the 26.5-point mark for tonight’s player prop bet.
Expect Maxey to cover this prop bet on Thursday night and potentially lead the team in scoring yet again in this Game 6 matchup.
The New York Knicks often go as All-Star guard Jalen Brunson goes. The point guard is leading his team in scoring with 34.4 points per playoff game thus far, and Brunson has 8.4 assists per outing to pace his team in that category.
The 6’ 2” guard is currently last among starters with 4.8 rebounds per playoff game, contributing 4.8 boards per contest. After starting the series with 15 rebounds in the first two games, the guard has fallen off precipitously.
In the past three games, Brunson has nabbed only nine total rebounds as Philadelphia has found ways to keep him off the boards. With a chance to finish the series tonight, expect Brunson to record at least five rebounds and cover this player prop bet.
Philadelphia has found ways to score inside on the smaller Knicks roster, thanks in large part to dominant center Joel Embiid’s return to the lineup after an injury sidelined him most of the previous two months.
Embiid’s presence allows the 76ers to get open outside shots, but Philadelphia is hitting on 36% of their three-point shots through the first five games. Their home shooting, however, is much better from behind the three-point line as the team hits nearly 38% of its long-range shots inside the Wells Fargo Center during the playoffs.
One player that this will benefit is shooting guard Kelly Oubre as he’s hit five of his six playoff three-point shots at home. Expect Oubre to hit at least two three-point shots and cover this prop bet.
It’s tempting to take the Knicks as +3 favorites as the team that should win this contest hails from New York. But the safest bet is that the team’s combined score is the best bet, considering only one contest in this series has failed to have both teams score below 100 points.
In four of the five contests, the combined score has been at least 205 points, making this the best bet for the Knicks-76ers matchup.
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