With teams starting to get eliminated, the NBA schedule gets lighter by the day, but even with just two games on the board tonight, there's basketball betting value to be found in the player prop market.
Tonight, the Bulls will look to stave off elimination against the Bucks, but DeMar DeRozan could be in for a tough night as his team enters this game shorthanded. And is Klay Thompson back? We’ll find out when the Warriors look to clinch their series against the Nuggets.
Check out our NBA player prop picks for Wednesday, April 27, as we bank on some of the NBA's best to do their thing.
NBA player props for April 27
- Holiday Over 20.5 points (-110)
- DeRozan Under 29.5 points (-105)
- Thompson Over 3.5 made threes (-150)
Picks made on 4/27/2022 at 12:55 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.
Jrue the Damaja
The Chicago Bulls will be shorthanded tonight when facing the elimination in Game 5 of their series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Zach LaVine has been placed on the COVID-19 list, while Alex Caruso is out with a concussion. This means the Bulls will not only be down one of their best scores in LaVine but one of their best perimeter defenders as well in Caruso.
No one is happier about that than Jrue Holiday. With Caruso only playing 16 minutes in Game 4, Holiday finally found his footing on offense. The Bucks point guard went 10-21 from the field for 26 points, including 5-8 from 3-point range.
Caruso missing a large chunk of the season was a big reason why the Bulls struggled to defend opposing guards this year. In fact, no team in the NBA allowed more points per game to opposing guards than the Bulls.
With the Bulls down these two key guys, look for Holiday to keep up the scoring and go Over his point total as the Bucks try to close out the series.
Pick: Jrue Holiday Over 20.5 points (-110)
DeRozan wilts
Some may think the absence of Zach LaVine and Alex Caruso may mean more scoring opportunities for DeMar DeRozan, but with the Bulls on the brink of elimination, I’m leaning towards the opposite.
With no LaVine and Caruso, the Bucks and their pose of long and athletic defenders can focus on eliminating DeRozan from the equation. And they have done a pretty decent job of doing that already in this series.
Aside from a 41-point explosion in Game 2, DeRozan has not topped more than 23 points in the other three games, averaging 23.3 points per game with the outlier. The Bucks have kicked their defense up to its championship level, ranking first in defensive rating, and are limiting the Bulls to a 39.8 % from the floor, also the best mark in the playoffs so far.
And while it can be tough to take an Under on DeRozan points, due to the fact he’s been outstanding this season, the Bulls appear to be on their last legs and it’s hard to see him topping 30 points against a Bucks team that is playing so well on defense.
Pick: DeMar DeRozan Under 29.5 Points (-105)
Klaymation
Can we say it? Klay Thompson is back! Steph Curry has his splash brother back! However you want to say it, Thompson has been lighting up the Denver Nuggets in their first-round series. Now, Thompson and the Warriors will try to finish off the Nuggets when they host them tonight in Game 5.
Thompson has looked like his old self against the Nuggets, draining 50 % of his shots from beyond the arc, on a whopping 10.5 attempts per game. And it doesn’t seem that Denver can match Golden State’s versatility on the perimeter. The Warriors just have too many weapons for them to cover, as they are allowing the third most 3-point attempts in the playoffs so far at 37.3 per contest.
I kind of wish a book would post Klay’s number at 4.5 with plus-money considering the fact he has nailed five or more threes six times in his last seven games and three times already this series. But we’ll take the Over on the 3.5 for now, even if it is a little juicy.
Pick: Klay Thompson Over 3.5 made threes (-150)
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