The Boston Celtics host the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs on Saturday afternoon.
This is expected to be a lopsided matchup, with Boston entering Game 1 as a 9.5-point favorite.
If you’re like me, you don’t want to lay that many points with any team in the opening game of the postseason, so why not focus on the prop market?
Here are two bets I love for Saturday’s action:
Hawks vs. Celtics best NBA prop bets
- Trae Young OVER 25.5 Points
- Jaylen Brown OVER 6.5 Rebounds
Trae Young OVER 25.5 Points
Trae Young has surprisingly scored the ball extremely well in recent games against Boston.
Dating back to last season, Young has four straight games with 27 or more points against Boston, including three games with 30 or more points. He’s taken over 20 shots in each of those games.
If Atlanta is going to have any chance in this series, Young and Dejounte Murray are going to have to play at a high level.
While the Celtics may hunt Young on defense, he can do the same to them on offense by attacking Al Horford, Grant Williams and others in switches. I’ll take the OVER for Young, who has shown he can dominate in the playoffs before.
Jaylen Brown OVER 6.5 Rebounds
Jaylen Brown was a rebounding machine in the playoffs last season, averaging 6.9 per game and going over 6.5 boards in 13 of his 24 playoff appearances.
Brown has averaged 7.5 and 6.9 rebounds per game in his last two postseasons, making him an easy pick for me here against a Hawks team that is just 16th in the NBA in rebounding percentage.
If Boston goes small to force Clint Capela off the floor, expect both Brown and Jayson Tatum to have big games on the glass.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.