It’s just another manic Monday for the NBA Playoffs with three series in action tonight, including two pressure-packed scenarios in potential elimination games. We love a certain Celtics guard to flash off his playmaking skills as well as two players to have opposite shooting nights.
So lets pass on the sides and totals and jump into the stack of alternative wagers, giving our best free NBA player prop picks for April 25.
NBA player props for April 25
Picks made on 4/25/2022 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Today’s best NBA player props
The odds widgets below represent the best odds currently available for each betting market at regulated sportsbooks.
Get Smart
Marcus Smart is the newly crowned Defensive Player of the Year but he’s also making his mark on offense in the NBA Playoffs.
While his shooting hasn’t been on point, his passing sure has. Smart has posted assist totals of six, five, and six in the first three games versus Brooklyn. And going back to the regular season, he dished out six or more dimes in seven of his last nine outings overall.
Smart is coming off a rough shooting day in Game 3, connecting on 6 of 15 field goals including a stanky 2-for-10 from beyond the arc. He’s a collective 9-for-24 from the field the past two contests, with a 3-for-16 success rate from distance. Given that shooting slump, Smart may be a little gun shy in Game 4 and more apt to create for others.
He was very aware with the basketball in Game 3, finding seams when the Nets threw a half-assed zone at the Celtics, and he was hitting slipping screeners inside when Brooklyn went man-to-man. Boston has plenty of scoring options and Brooklyn hasn’t shown that it can slow down that playmaking, with the C's recording an assist on 63% of made buckets.
Smart’s assist total is sitting at 6.5 at many books but FanDuel is dealing this prop total one pass lower at 5.5 assists. We’ll lay a little extra lumber to get that shorter bar for Game 4.
Pick: Marcus Smart Over 5.5 Assists (-144)
Raiders of the lost (3-point) arc
Tobias Harris was a problem for the Toronto Raptors in the first two games of this series. The Philadelphia 76ers forward beat up the Raps inside and out, knocking down 6 of 8 shots from beyond the 3-point arc in Games 1 and 2.
That shooting touch cooled off in the two contests in Toronto, with Harris shooting a collective 2-for-7 from distance. With the series swinging back to the City of Brotherly Love, Harris’ player prop total on 3-point makes is sitting at 1.5 (Over -129), with books expecting him to find that form again.
Harris was much more active from outside when defended by smaller guards Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent during this series (13 threes taken) but he will see longer defenders on him tonight with VanVleet out of action — forcing Toronto to roll out a bigger lineup.
That means more checks from Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby — two lengthy athletic defenders who could prompt Harris to go to his default in the post-up game. He’s attempted 12 of his last 21 field-goal attempts from inside 10 feet of the basket after shooting only eight shots from that close in the opening two games of the series.
Pick: Tobias Harris Under 1.5 3-pointers Made (+105)
Texas-Sized Shooting
The Dallas Mavericks aren’t shy about launching from beyond the arc in the playoffs.
Since rolling out a small-ball lineup in Game 2 of their opening-round series with the Utah Jazz, the Mavs have attempted 133 shots from distance — an average of more than 44 per game — which is a jump from their season rate of just 37.4.
That green light from outside makes Dallas’ player props on 3-point makes tempting, simply from a bulk shooting perspective. Dorian Finney-Smith has fired the most triple attempts so far for the Mavericks, hitting 10 of 27 from deep in the series.
He went 3-for-6 from outside in Game 4’s loss at Utah but returns to the American Airlines Center, where he averages 2.4 makes on 5.8 shots from beyond the arc per game — good for 40.6% shooting.
Finney-Smith is logging significant minutes due to his versatility and importance on defense. With Luka Doncic back, Utah must now double team Dallas’ go-to scorer and that should free up space for guys like the 6-foot-7 Finney-Smith to make clean looks from the perimeter.
Taking DFS to go Over 2.5 threes is a tasty volume bet that's paying plus money at every sportsbook.
Pick: Dorian Finney-Smith Over 2.5 3-Pointers Made (+125)
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