Just one game on the NBA Playoff docket Thursday night, but it’s a biggie, as the Warriors try to take two on the road as they visit the Timberwolves.
Of course, the biggest news is that Steph Curry is out with a hamstring injury, and that, no doubt, plays into our NBA player props.
Find out how: check out our free picks below.
NBA Player Prop Picks for May 8
Buddy Hield Under 14.5 points (+100 at Bet365)
It’s been a good run for Buddy Hield after putting up a doughnut in Game 6 against the Rockets, putting up his two best scoring games of the playoffs since.
He netted 33 in Game 7 vs Houston, then opened Round 2 with 24 against the Timberwolves, including a crisp 5-for-8 from 3-point range.
With Curry out, though, I just see buckets being hard to come by for the Warriors.
Yes, Hield did it with Steph out in Game 1, but Minny can now take Jaden McDaniels off the Curry assignment and shift him over to Hield.
Without that Curry gravity, there just won’t be a multitude of rotations being made, leaving shooters wide open. They’re going to have to earn their buckets Thursday, and for Hield, I’m betting it comes crashing down.
Anthony Edwards Under 3.5 3-point makes (-115 at Bet365)
The second half of Game 1 should be a wake-up call to Anthony Edwards. Once he used his prodigious talents to get to the tin, instead of fire from distance, no one could stop him.
Edwards was 1-for-5 from 3-point range against the Warriors and just 1-for-16 over his last two playoff games.
His ability to break down the Warriors’ defense is one of the advantages the Timberwolves need to exploit more, as it not only opens up shooters dotting the arc but also the lanes for Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle to crash the offensive glass.
I still think Edwards will hit a couple of threes to keep the defense honest, but his approach will be, for the first time in a while, inside-out vs outside-in.
Rudy Gobert Over 1.5 blocks (+132 at Bet365)
Minnesota’s defense is going to look a lot stickier in Game 2, as there isn’t an all-world code breaker in Curry that can lay to rest even the best defensive plans.
That means that Rudy Gobert should be more playable too, as there’s no exceptional threat to dust him in a mismatch.
Gobert had three blocks in Game 1 and has had five blocks over his last two games.
I don’t think the Warriors will launch as many triples as they usually would without Steph, and will try to find their way into the paint more.
If Minnesota can run the perimeter guys off the arc, Gobert should be available to help clean up the mess.
