The Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder will begin their second-round series in the 2024 NBA Playoffs Tuesday evening with Game 1 from Oklahoma City. The Mavericks enter this series after a hard-fought six-game battle with the Clippers, while the Thunder are itching to get back on the court after a sweep of the Pelicans in the first round. Oklahoma City won the season series between these teams 3-1.
Here’s a look at some of our favorite player prop bets to target for Game 1 Tuesday, with odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Doncic went over this mark in Game 6 against the Clippers, but stayed under in the previous five contests. The star point guard can always break out and the Thunder might force him to give the ball up more, which means his teammates will have to hit shots. Doncic did log 13.5 assists per game in the two contests he played against Oklahoma City during the regular season but I think the Thunder clamp up defensively and try to limit his impact tonight. Give me the under on Doncic’s assist line.
Oklahoma City’s star point guard and MVP finalist wasn’t his typical self to close out the first round. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 24 points on 39% shooting in the final two contests against New Orleans, allowing his teammates to do most of the heavy lifting. I think that’ll come in handy during this series, since Dallas’ defense has taken a step up over the last month and a half. The Mavericks will try to key in on SGA to limit his scoring impact, so he’ll need to trust his teammates to put points on the board. I believe Gilgeous-Alexander will still take over when needed but he’ll stay under this line tonight.
Irving often started slow in the first round, only to explode in the second half. He went over this line three times in six games against the Clippers, but just once in his two matchups against Oklahoma City during the regular season. The guard can heat up in an instance and make this line look foolish, though the Thunder will be able to put some talented defenders on him. I think Irving is more aggressive getting to the basket in this contest and is chased off the perimeter, leading to him going under on this prop.
Oklahoma City’s depth behind Holmgren is almost non-existent, so there’s some risk here he gets into foul trouble and can’t stay on the court enough to get to this mark. However, Holmgren has been able to play solid defense without fouling so far. He logged 11 blocks in the first three games of the series against the Pelicans, going over this line twice in that span. Given how aggressive I think the Mavericks will be attacking the basket, Holmgren should have plenty of chances to send shots back. I like him to go over this line in Game 1.
