Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics Player Prop Pick: Can Max Strus Crash the Boards in Game 1?
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics Player Prop Pick: Can Max Strus Crash the Boards in Game 1?
The Cleveland Cavaliers travel to Boston tonight to take on the Celtics in the second round of the NBA playoffs from TD Garden. The Cavaliers were able to escape the Orlando series with a Game 7 win at home back on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Celtics took care of the Heat in five games with all four wins being blowouts. Which should we expect in Game 1 tonight from Boston?
CAVALIERS VS. CELTICS GAME 1 DATE, TIME, AND WHERE TO WATCH
- Date: May 7, 2024
- Start Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
- Where to Watch: TNT
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS VS. BOSTON CELTICS Game 1 PREDICTION
While the spread is at a very high 12.5 points, there are many player props I love for this game tonight. My favorite is heading to the Cavaliers roster and betting on Max Strus tonight.
We took Max Strus’s threes in game seven the other night, but I am going with a more unorthodox angle on this game tonight. I am taking Max Strus over 4.5 rebounds.
This may seem like a random play, but when you think about the matchup, it is not. No one in the NBA shot more threes than the Celtics this season, and typically three-point attempts result in longer rebounds. The Celtics have been making it rain from three in the playoffs and have not been scoring as much in the paint, which plays against big-boy rebounds and lets the guards get more.
The Celtics allowed the third-least rebounds to centers this year and the positions they gave up the most rebounds to relative to the rest of the league were shooting guard and small forward, which fits right in for Max Strus.
You don’t usually think of Max as a heavy rebounder, but he passed 4.5 rebounds in four of the seven games against the Magic. He even hit nine rebounds in two of the games. When you look at his games against the Celtics this year, he had nine rebounds in one and four in the other. However, in the game he failed to hit this mark, he only played 31 minutes, and I expect him to play many more tonight, like closer to 40. The Cavaliers need his perimeter shooting this series if they want to keep up with the Celtics, so with the heavy minutes, I see Strus hitting five rebounds pretty easily in this matchup. We are also getting money on the over here as a bonus.
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS VS. BOSTON CELTICS Game 2 Player PROP PICK
Pick: Max Strus Over 4.5 Rebounds +110 Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
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Article Author
Ben Rajavuori is a handicapper out of Minneapolis, MN. He has been creating sports content for almost four years now and is an expert in all things NFL, MLB, NBA, UFC, and NCAAB. Ben thrives on diving deep into statistics to find the best angle on every bet. You can follow him on Twitter @WeBeatTheSpread.