NBA playoffs predictions: Three player props for Tuesday’s action

We’re now 10 days into the NBA’s second season, yet only one team has officially made its way out of the first round: the Philadelphia 76ers, who swept the Brooklyn Nets over the weekend.

The 76ers almost certainly will get some second-round company Tuesday night, though, as the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns are in close-out situations — all at home.

Rather than deal with the massive point spreads that are attached to all three contests, we’re once again turning our attention to the NBA props market — and looking to build on Monday’s 3-0 effort.

Here are our three favorite player-prop wagering recommendations for Tuesday’s tripleheader — including a potentially lucrative same-game parlay involving two of the NBA’s biggest stars.

Odds updated as of 2:45 a.m. on April 25.

Young did everything in his power Sunday to help the Hawks even their best-of-7 series against top-seeded Boston.

Atlanta’s point guard went 11-for-26 from the field, made four 3-pointers, knocked down nine of his 11 free-throw attempts and finished with 35 points and 15 assists — all while committing just one turnover in 40-plus minutes of court time.

It was a magnificent performance. But it also wasn’t quite magnificent enough, as the Celtics pulled away late for a 129-121 victory to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Young’s combined 50 points and assists in Game 4 followed his 41 combined points and assists in Atlanta’s 130-122 victory in Game 3. He also posted combined points and assists totals of 49 and 36 in two regular-season matchups against the Celtics.

But here’s the thing: All four of those games were in Atlanta. When the series opened in Boston, Young managed just 16 points and eight assists in Game 1, and 24 points and six assists in Game 2 — and the Hawks were manhandled in both contests.

In fact, Young’s home-road discrepancies have been quite stark lately.

Average combined points and assists in his last five games in Atlanta: 43, and he topped 40 in four of those contests

Average combined points and assists in his last five games as a visitor: 24.4, and he had 30 or more just twice.

Finally, here are the points and assist stats Young collected in his last three playoff elimination games (along with the results and locations of those games): 11 points, eight assists (loss at Miami); 14 points, eight assists (home loss vs. Milwaukee); 21 points, 10 assists (win at Philadelphia).

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While we’re on the topic of home-road splits, let’s bring Murray into the conversation.

The Nuggets’ sharpshooting guard made just 3 of 13 shots from behind the arc in two games at Minnesota over the weekend. How’d he perform from deep in the first two contests at home? 4-for-10 in Game 1, 6-for-10 in Game 2.

Murray’s 3-point makes in his final 12 regular-season home games: 3, 4, 3, 5, 5, 1, 5, 4, 4, 7, 3 and 7.

So going all the way back to Jan. 31, Murray has drained more than two triples in 13 of his last 14 games when playing in the Mile High City.

For the entire season, Murray has made at least three 3-pointers 36 times in 79 games.

Number of times he accomplished the feat in 38 home games: 22.

Number of times he accomplished the feat in 31 road games: 14.

Play the strong percentages in this one, and bet on Murray to bury at least three treys while leading the top-seeded Nuggets to a series-clinching Game 5 victory in Denver.

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The Phoenix Suns’ new dynamic duo has delivered as promised in the opening round against the Clippers.

Starting with a Game 1 home loss, Booker has put up point totals of 26, 38, 45 and 30. The last three games have been a sharp turnaround for the point guard, as he had previously fallen short of 30 points in eight straight contests.

Meanwhile, Durant has been the poster child for consistency in his first playoff series with the Suns, scoring 27, 25, 28 and 31 points.

Durant has had just one clunker in his last eight games going back to the regular season — he had 18 points in a 19-point victory over the Spurs, but only played 33 minutes.

In the other seven games, Durant averaged 29.3 points per outing.

With Phoenix in a close-out situation against a Clippers squad that once again won’t have stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the court, look for the Suns’ two best players to burn up the nets for a third straight game.

If Durant and Booker beat their respective projections of 28.5 and 30.5 points, we’ll collect a juicy same game parlay payout approaching 3-to-1 odds at FanDuel.

The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.