Best Bets on Today’s NBA Player Props Market
If you’re looking for some plays for the NBA Playoffs action on Tuesday, May 23rd, we have you covered in every way possible. As always, we’ll have best bets to give you some ideas of what to back when it comes to moneylines, spreads and totals. However, we’re tackling player props here, and we’re targeting Jimmy Butler in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat tonight. Keep reading to find out how we’re betting on them. Also, check out our NBA Playoffs Hub for all of our postseason NBA content.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have on May 23
Here are our favorite NBA prop bets for Tuesday, May 23:
Boston Celtics at Miami Heat (-1.5, 216.5) – Game 4
Jimmy Butler has scored 27 or fewer points in each of the last two games, yet his point total for tonight sits at 27.5. That’s because the oddsmakers know that Butler is likely to be at his absolute best with this being a closeout game. Butler seemingly always performs at a high level when the Heat need him most. We got a good glimpse of that when Butler scored 35 points in Game 1 of this series, which really set the tone for things to come. Butler also happened to have 42 points in Miami’s closeout win over the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. And he had 24 points in a game in which the Heat scored only 96 points in a Game 6 win over the New York Knicks.
This obviously isn’t a traditional must-win game for the Heat, as they have a 3-0 lead in the series. But Erik Spoelstra knows that his team can’t afford to play with its food, so he’ll be drilling it into his players that they need to go out and win this one. The Denver Nuggets also happened to wrap up their series with the Los Angeles Lakers in four games, so the Heat are going to want to try and do the same in order to match the Western Conference powerhouse in the rest department.
There should also be quite a bit of nerves from Miami’s role players in this one. Sure, we haven’t really seen that throughout the series, but Boston is going to come with a different level of intensity in Game 4. The Celtics still feel they’re the better team in this series, and they don’t want to go down the way they did in Game 3. With them playing at a higher level, it’ll be up to Butler to rise to the occasion and lead by example. And Butler can always be counted on to do exactly that.
Look for Miami to try and get Butler the ball as often as possible, as he can do all sorts of damage in the mid-post area. Butler should also be able to get to the free throw line for some easy points. Last year, Butler averaged 41.0 points per game over the final two games of the Eastern Conference Finals that Miami lost to Boston. I’m expecting a similar Herculean effort from the superstar in Game 4. He wants to end this thing as soon as possible — not just because he wants his team to rest, but also because he wants to embarrass a Celtics team that ended his season last year.
Bet: Butler Over 27.5 Points (-135)
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