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The Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks kick off the NBA Finals in Phoenix with Game 1 Tuesday. The Suns are favored to win the series, but the Bucks have confidence after winning their last two games despite missing Giannis Antetokounmpo due to a knee injury.
Update: Antetokounmpo is playing in Game 1, per reports.
Khris Middleton over 25.5 points (-148)
Middleton is expected to be one of Milwaukee’s top offensive options, so there’s no surprise bettors are taking this prop. The shooting guard is averaging 23.4 points per game in the playoffs playing with the Greek Freak for most of the time. He’s gone for 26 and 32 in the last two contests and has a good chance to top 25.5 points in Game 1.
Brook Lopez over 14.5 points (-134)
The Bucks need scoring from other sources and Lopez is the prime candidate to pick up some of the slack. He’s been great in the last two games and has a decent matchup in this series against Deandre Ayton. Lopez is also a strong three-point shooter and should get enough opportunities to pay off on this prop.
Jrue Holiday over 22.5 points (-107)
Holiday staying aggressive is one of the keys to Milwaukee having a chance in this series. The guard struggled for much of the playoffs, but broke out in the conference finals with 22.0 points and 10.0 assists per game.
Jae Crowder over 4.5 rebounds (-159)
Crowder doesn’t really register as someone you’d take a rebounding prop on, but the forward is averaging 5.2 rebounds per game. He averaged 5.3 boards per game in the conference finals and should be able to pay off on this prop, but it will be close.
Jae Crowder over 9.5 points (-134)
It seems bettors think Game 1 will be the “Jae Crowder game” of the series. Crowder is averaging 10.4 points per game in the playoffs and had 19 in Phoenix’s conference finals clincher. If you take out that performance, Crowder averaged 6.2 points per game in the series. He’s not shooting the ball particular well, so this is a risky prop for bettors to back.
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