{"id":616640,"date":"2026-04-20T14:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T14:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/616640\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T14:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T14:10:08","slug":"nba-playoff-predictions-picks-for-every-game-2-on-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/616640\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Playoff Predictions, Picks for Every Game 2 on Monday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">Monday\u2019s NBA playoff action features a trio of Game 2 matchups, starting with the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the Toronto Raptors and ending with the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road against the Denver Nuggets.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7c\">In between those matchups, the New York Knicks host the Atlanta Hawks after an exciting Game 1 on Saturday where Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns combined for 53 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7f\">New York, Cleveland and Denver all remain favored on Monday after winning and covering as favorites in Game 1. So, should bettors expect more of the same on Monday?<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7i\">This year, I\u2019m betting on every NBA playoff game in this \u201cRoad to the NBA Finals\u201d challenge, and the rules are pretty simple:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Bet on every game through the play-in tournament and playoffsBet can be a spread, total, moneyline, player prop or game propENJOY POSTSEASON BASKETBALL!<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7o\">Here\u2019s a breakdown of my favorite bet for each playoff game on Monday, April 20.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7r\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/4kJjtBu\" rel=\"nofollow sponsored noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cavs Team Total OVER 116.5 (-108)<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7x\">The Cavs are just 16-23 against the spread when favored at home in the 2025-26 season, so I don\u2019t love laying the points in Game 2 \u2013 even though betting on Toronto to cover backfired in Game 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"80\">Instead, I\u2019m going to trust this Cleveland offense, which finished sixth in the league in offensive rating in the regular season and fourth in points per game, averaging over 119 per night. The Cavs\u2019 team total is set at 116.5, and I think the OVER is in play after how easily they scored in the half court in Game 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"83\">Toronto was fifth in the league in defensive rating in the regular season, but it allowed at least 26 points in each quarter in Game 1. The Cavs finished with 126 points, shooting 16-for-32 from beyond the arc. In fact, Cleveland needed just two fast-break points to reach 126 points in Game 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"86\">The Raptors allowed just under 112 points per game in the regular season, but the Cavs offense is clearly the best unit in this series.<\/p>\n<p>Jalen Brunson OVER 2.5 3-Pointers Made (-125)<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8c\">Earlier today, I shared in my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/betting\/nba-best-bets-today-predictions-prop-bets-for-jalen-brunson-nikola-jokic-anthony-edwards\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NBA Best Bets column \u2013 Peter\u2019s Points<\/a> \u2013 why Brunson is a great prop target in Game 2:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8f\">Jalen Brunson put on a clinic scoring the ball in Game 1 against the Hawks, dropping 19 points in the first quarter and finishing with 28 points overall.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8i\">Brunson only took four 3-pointers in the game, but he made 3 of them. He\u2019s now cleared 2.5 3-pointers in three of his four meetings against the Hawks, taking at least eight shots from deep in three of those games.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8l\">Atlanta was 13th in the league in opponent 3s made per game in the regular season, and Brunson has such a big responsibility in the New York offense that he\u2019s worth a look at this number.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-17\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8o\">During the regular season, Brunson shot 36.9 percent from deep on over seven attempts per game, and he has averaged 2.4 3-pointers made per game in his Knicks playoff career.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Nikola Jokic OVER 9.5 Assists (-141)<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-19\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8u\">Jokic had 11 dimes in Game 1 of this series, and he finished the regular season averaging 10.7 assists per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-20\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8x\">I\u2019m surprised to see this line set below 10.5, as Jokic has 10 or more assists in 15 of his last 22 games (including playoffs), and he averaged 11.2 assists per game from March 1 through the end of the regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-21\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"90\">In his four meetings with the Wolves during the regular season, Jokic had nine, 15, 11 and 10 dimes, so it\u2019s certainly in the cards for him to reach double-digit dimes in Game 2. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-23\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"95\">Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-24\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"98\">If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-25\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"9b\">Claim the latest\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/betting\/sportsbook-promos\/draftkings-promo-code\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DraftKings promo code<\/a>\u00a0offer today. Sign up and get\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/4kJjtBu\" rel=\"nofollow sponsored noopener\" target=\"_blank\">$300 in bonus bets instantly when you make your first $5 bet<\/a>\u00a0and that bet wins.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monday\u2019s NBA playoff action features a trio of Game 2 matchups, starting with the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-616640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}