The NBA Playoffs got off to a flying start over the weekend, and they continue on Monday night with three games on the scoreboard, starting with the Toronto Raptors visiting the Cleveland Cavaliers for Game 2 of their series at Rocket Arena. Let’s dive into the matchup and pinpoint a few of the top player prop bets available on each side ahead of Monday’s Eastern Conference clash.
The Cavaliers are 8.5-point home favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, with the game total O/U 222.5 points. After taking Game 1, the Cavs hold -800 odds of winning the series, while the Raptors sit at +550 to come back and pull off the first-round upset.
The Raptors were without Immanuel Quickley (hamstring) in Game 1, and he is questionable for Game 2, while the Cavs have a clean injury report except for backup big man Thomas Bryant (Calf), who is out.
Let’s dive into this Game 2 matchup and find a few player prop bets to target in Raptors-Cavaliers Game 2.
Raptors vs. Cavaliers Best Prop Bets
Donovan Mitchell 30+ Points (+119)
While the Cavs have built a strong supporting cast around Spida, it’s still clearly his team, and he is still the focus of the offense. He had 32 points in 31 minutes in Game 1, extending his streak to nine straight Game 1 performances with 30+ points. It also extended his streak to eight straight home playoff games with at least 30 points, and he’ll look to run that to nine straight as well with another big game on Monday.
Mitchell had at least 30 points in 34 games during the regular season, averaging 27.9 points per contest over 70 regular-season games. He got a few games off down the stretch, but scored 38 points in 33 minutes against the Pacers and 31 points in 35 minutes against the Hawks in his final two regular-season appearances.
James Harden gives the Cavs a great secondary scoring option and allows Mitchell to hand off point guard responsibilities, giving him more freedom to carry the scoring load. The backcourt tandem looked like a great fit in Game 1, and they’ll look to push their series lead to 2-0 before heading north of the border for Game 3.
Scottie Barnes o31.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-106)
Whether Quickley plays or not, Barnes will need to step up for the Raptors. He played in 80 of Toronto’s 82 regular-season games, averaging 31.5 PRA (points, rebounds and assists) on 18.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per contest.
In Game 1, Barnes had 29 PRA in 32 minutes with 21 points, one rebound and seven assists. In the three regular-season matchups between these teams, Barnes finished with 29, 46 and 35 PRA, and he has gone over this prop line in five of his last seven games against Cleveland.
Barnes has a good chance to do more work on the glass and could remain the chief facilitator as well if Quickley is out again. He can fill in various columns on the statsheet and makes sense at this prop line, since he’ll come out looking to post a gib game an even the series.
James Harden u4.5 rebounds (-110)
Harden has had stretches of his career where he is very active on the glass, and he was a nightly triple-double threat even earlier this year with the Clippers. Since coming to Cleveland, though, he has had much less responsibility on the boards.
In his 26 regular-season games with the Cavs, he averaged 4.8 rebounds per game, but he only had two rebounds in the first game of this series and also came in under this prop line in five of his last six regular-season games.
Harden is well-established and contributing with his new squad, but he isn’t getting enough rebounds regularly to get him past this prop line.
Bonus Parlay Pick: RJ Barrett o18.5 Points (-123)
If you’re building an SGP (Same Game Parlay) for Game 2, adding in the over on Barrett’s scoring prop boosts the odds up to an even +1000 for the four Raptors-Cavaliers bets in this post.
Barrett had 24 points in 31 minutes in Game 1 and went over this prop line in seven of his last nine games dating back to the regular season. If Quickley comes back in a big role, Barrett could have less workload, but if he is limited or misses another game, Barrett should stay very involved. While Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram remain the primary scorers, Barrett gets enough work that this prop is very reachable as long as he keeps getting so much work against Cleveland in Game 2.
