In Part II of our prop bets here at Maddux, we’ll look at the prop bets for the host team, the Miami Heat. Big three, and Jesus Shuttlesworth (of course?)—the rest would be patchy guesswork, irrelevant numbers. You get the idea.
LeBron James 28 points, 8.5 rebounds, 7 assists
LeBron really struggled in Game 1, and by struggled I mean amassed a triple double in a loss. James shot 7-of-16, but he missed 4-of-5 from distance, and he also only shot four free throws. The result was 18 points, 10 assists and 18 rebounds. That puts him over in two of the three cats with a repeat performance, but there’s a reason to expect James to look for more than 16 shots tonight. The Heat did lose, right? James comes out focused, AND offensive minded. Score, score, score.
Points: OVER
Rebounds: PUSH
Assists: OVER
Dwyane Wade 17.5 points, 9.5 rebounds + assists total
D-Wade fell about close to this in Game 1 with 17 points and four rebounds+assists. OK, so only the points were close really. Wade does have one thing working in his advantage though: The best perimeter defender on the Spurs, Kawhi Leonard, will be spending the night chasing around LBJ. 20 points seems about right with Wade facing off a lot against a mediocre to poor defender like former-flopper Manu Ginobili. The rebounds and assists are trickier to predict, but after just four in Game 1, the inclination would be to go under. Instead, I’m staying away.
Points: OVER
Rebounds+Assists: PUSH
Chris Bosh 14.5 points, 6 rebounds, 0.5 threes
Chris Bosh had a very humbling 13 and 5 in Game 1, which was said to be his worst since the Jurassic era when there were far fewer teams in the league, and no Homo Sapiens. Jokes aside, Duncan dominates Bosh tonight. That’s not a joke. Bosh repeats Game 1.
Points: UNDER
Rebounds: UNDER
Threes: Whatever’s clever.
Ray Allen 1.5 made threes
Going OVER on this since Ray Ray knocked down three of them in Game 1 and because he is the best shooter in league history to-date. Pretty simple reasons, huh?