The conference semifinals continue on Friday night with both of the series seeing a change in location. The Philadelphia 76ers will be returning home having picked up a road win and gaining the home court advantage for the rest of the series. However with the Boston Celtics dominating Game 2, they should be in for a real battle to keep hold of it. That will be followed by the Phoenix Suns desparetly trying to remain in their series against the Den ver Nuggets. Having dropped both road games, they know a loss tonight would leave them in a nearly unsurmountable 3-0 hole.
You can check out our'NBA picks on the side and total for today's games, but for now, let's dive into my favorite NBA player prop bets for tonight.
While the 76ers were outclassed in Game 2 of the series, Joel Embiid was a monster when it came to defending the rim. He was able to record 5 blocks in just 26 minutes of action. With the 76ers being unlikely to be blown out in similar fashion here, the center should see bigger minutes tonight. That should give him plenty of time to get to the 4 blocks per game he is averaging in the postseason so far. He will also benefit from being matched up against the much smaller man in Al Horford, which should give him a great chance blocking him when the pair are down low. With the MVP in the paint, the 76ers are also freer to aggressively chase down shooters on the perimeter, funnelling them into Embiid in the paint. That should give the center plenty of opportunities to contest shots here.
After a spectacular Game 1 performance, James Harden saw a drop off in scoring in Game 2. I expect him to return to his previous levels tonight, especially his 3-point shooting. In the previous series against the Nets, Harden benefited from sharing the floor with Embiid. The attention he can draw inside allowed Harden to knock down at least 3 triples in 2 of the 3 games they played together. Being back on their home floor, I expect a similar performance here. On the season he has averaged 3 threes per game at home. That is 0.5 more than in his road games, on 0.9 more attempts per game. Couple that increased aggression in attacking from the perimiter with the fact he is making 39.6& of his attempts this postseason, and we should see him hit this over here.