The NBA starts off the work week with eight games on Monday’s scoreboard, and in one of the games in the early wave, the Boston Celtics host the Phoenix Suns at TD Garden. It should be a nice nonconference matchup between teams looking to claim a playoff spot over the next few weeks. One way to enjoy the game this Monday is to find some juicy player prop bets that make sense to consider putting on your betting card for this Suns-Celtics matchup.
In the bigger picture of the overall matchup, the Celtics are 8.5-point home favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, with a game total of 214.5 points.
The Suns are in the middle of a six-game road trip, which they started with back-to-back wins against the Bucks and Pacers before losing to the Raptors on Friday. They’re 6-2 over their last eight games and 39-28 on the season, good enough for the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference. The Celtics are 6-3 in their last nine games after bouncing back from back-to-back road losses in Oklahoma City and San Antonio with a win over the Wizards. Boston is 44-23 overall and sits second in the Eastern Conference coming into this contest.
On the injury report, no players are questionable, with Nikola Vucevic, Mark Williams and Dillon Brooks all ruled out.
Suns at Celtics Best Prop Bets
Jaylen Brown 25+ Points (+108)
The Celtics got Jayson Tatum back from his Achilles injury, and Brown and Tatum are learning to co-exist once again after Brown carried the team for the first part of the season. Brown is averaging 28.2 points per game on the year, and he went off for 34 points against the Thunder while playing alongside Tatum last Thursday.
On Saturday, he only had 16 points in 31 minutes in a win over the Wizards, but Brown has scored at least 25 points in Boston’s last 14 home games against teams with a winning record. While he will continue to get more help with Tatum in the mix, he still has a strong chance to get to 25 points in this matchup.
In Tatum’s first two games back, Brown has 24 and 23 points before getting ejected against the Spurs and playing a lighter workload against Washington. In a close game with a full workload, Brown has a great shot to deliver at this plus-money prop line.
Grayson Allen 15+ Points (-101)
For the Suns, Allen has 15+ points in each of his last five road games against teams with a winning record. He has been picking up more work with Dillon Brooks out, and he has reached at least 15 points in eight of his 11 games since Feb. 1, averaging 19.5 points per game over that stretch.
Allen has been in and out of the lineup for the Suns, not playing back-to-back games, but he is not on the injury report and should be fresh after two days off over the weekend.
In the first matchup between these teams this season, Allen had 14 points in just 24 minutes, but in this rematch, he should carry a larger workload and be able to get to at least 15 points.
Oso Ighodaro o11.5 Points + Rebounds (-124)
With Mark Williams out and Nick Richards traded to the Bulls, Ighodaro has started six straight games for Phoenix. He has gone over this prop line in five of his last eight games, averaging 8.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in 27.6 minutes per game.
He’s averaging 14.8 points plus rebounds over those eight games and came in with exactly 11 points plus rebounds in each of his last two games. In this tough competitive matchup with Boston, Ighodaro should be in a favorable matchup, since the Celtics use a lot of stretch lineups, which should fit his style well.
He played slightly fewer minutes in his last three games, but he remains key on the defensive end as well, and he should be ready for closer to 30 minutes after the weekend off.
Bonus Parlay Pick: Payton Pritchard u2.5 3PM (-122)
If you’re building an SGP (Same Game Parlay) from this Monday night matchup, one way to boost the odds even higher is by adding the under on Pritchard’s 3PM (three-pointers made). Adding that fourth player prop into the mix boosts the SGP all the way up to +1100 for these four Suns-Celtics bets.
Pritchard has shown that he can go off for monster games when called upon for more work, but his role has been greatly reduced over his last several games. He has come in under this prop line in each of his last five games and in eight of his last 10. He didn’t have a single 3PM in the C’s first matchup with the Suns and only has a total of six 3PM over his last eight games. He has a chance to get hot and go off in any matchup, but that doesn’t seem likely to be the case with Tatum, Brown and Derrick White all available this Monday.
