Hawks vs. Bucks: The best player prop bets for Game 2

Yet again, the Atlanta Hawks are threatening an upset. They have now won three straight Game 1’s to open their series, all on the road in hostile arenas. At some point, opposing teams will learn not to underestimate these Hawks, but the Bucks, just like the Sixers last round, decided to learn the hard way.

Both teams have a lot they can clean up, and Friday night will tell us a great deal about which players are going to excel in this series.

Game 2 is scheduled for 8:30 p.m ET on TNT, and we have the three best player prop picks below.

TRAE YOUNG OVER/UNDER 44.5 POINTS, REBOUNDS, and ASSISTS

Trae Young just keeps raising the bar. At this point, he is on an all-time great first playoff run, with no game more brilliant than his 48 point, 11 assist domination of the Bucks in Game 1. Atlanta looked extremely comfortable on offense right from tip-off, as the Bucks played their traditional deep drop coverage against Young. They decided they would live with Trae taking floaters if it meant shutting down corner 3’s and lobs. 

But Young’s floater is among the best in the NBA, and he attacked Milwaukee relentlessly. For a while though, it seemed that the Bucks strategy would work. Young was scoring easily, but the Bucks were steadily growing their lead.

But then the Bucks made a grave error. They inserted Jeff Teague into the game and had him guard Young, even though Jrue Holiday was on the floor and guarding the much more limited Bogdanovic.

In a flash, Young pressed his advantage. He scored eight quick points and added an assist against Teague, including a pair of demoralizing pull up 3’s. The Bucks lead was erased, and the Hawks later pulled out the win in the final moments.

Young was incredible, but there are reasons to think he won’t get as hot in Game 2. The Bucks changed up their defense in the second half, going with Giannis Antetokounmpo at center and taking Brook Lopez off the court. Young only went 1-7 from the field in the fourth and 5-13 in the second half after going 12-21 in the first half.  Something that gave Young pause was the Bucks’ adjustment to switch Giannis out on him in pick and roll situations. This is consistent with earlier in the playoffs, where Young struggled to create in isolation against Julius Randle. 

The combination of Giannis at center and Mike Budenholzer learning from his unforced errors in Game 1 should mean that there is a drop-off in Young’s production.

PICK: UNDER 44.5 POINTS, REBOUNDS, and ASSISTS (-122)

GIANNIS Antetokounmpo OVER/UNDER 5.5 ASSISTS

One thing evident in Game 1 was Antetokounmpo rediscovering his role as a playmaker in the halfcourt. While Giannis as the nominal center is primarily a defensive adjustment, it also creates so many mismatches for the Bucks on offense. Mismatches draw help, and Giannis used them to create quality assists.

Clint Capela knows that Giannis isn’t a credible threat from deep, so he was sagging off him whenever "The Greek Freak" caught the ball up top. But rather than be baited into 3’s, Giannis dished off to cutters who had just enough airspace to avoid Capela at the rim. When anyone else was guarding him he attacked, forcing Capela to come help. Giannis then had a number of nice drop-off dimes for layups once the help was committed. 

He played an incredibly poised game, and it helped Milwaukee score a staggering 70 points in the paint. Expect the Hawks to continue to concede some of Giannis’ passing game as they try to deny his forays to the rim.

PICK: OVER 5.5 ASSISTS (-129)

JOHN COLLINS OVER/UNDER 9.5 REBOUNDS

In a game that featured Young doing a single-shoulder shimmy before nailing a shot, the highlight of the game was actually a team-up between Young and Collins.

You could tell by Collin’s expression that even he could barely believe the audacity it took for Young to throw that pass. That highlight was just a piece of the puzzle though, as Collins played a terrific all-around game with 23 points on 68.8% from the field. But it was his rebounding even more than his scoring that turned the game.

What ultimately sunk the Bucks was a combination of Collins and Capella working the offensive glass. As Milwaukee went small, they conceded multiple back-breaking rebounds in the last four minutes of the game, and Collins finished with 15 rebounds for the night, with five coming on the offensive glass.

There’s every reason to believe the Bucks will go small again to stymie Young’s attack in Game 2, and that will give Collins an opportunity to once again dominate on the glass.

PICK: OVER 9.5 REBOUNDS (-106)