The NBA playoff focus is all on the Western Conference on Thursday night.
The Minnesota-Memphis, Utah-Dallas and Denver-Golden State series all shift scenery to the arenas of the lower seeded teams.
Thursday's home teams need to get off to fast starts and they must have more scoring from the supporting casts around their stars.
D'Angelo Russell. Jordan Clarkson and Aaron Gordon fill those roles for the Wolves, Jazz and Nuggets.
I'm looking at props for each of those players as my top bets for Thursday's games.
NBA Playoff Prop Picks
Overall Record: 13-13 (2-2 Wednesday)
D'Angelo Russell Over 2.5 Threes (+140)
Minnesota needs D'Angelo Russell to go off inside the Target Center to shift the momentum back in its favor.
Russell was a star in the Wolves' last home game against the Los Angeles Clippers in the play-in round.
The Minnesota guard attempted seven three-point shots in Game 2. He is 3-for-10 from deep in the series.
The three-point shot volume is there for Russell and he is vital for the Wolves to beat Memphis. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards will not be able to everything on their own.
I expect Minnesota to come out energizing by the home crowd and that should help Russell's three-point output. Plus, you are not going to get him at this good of a price in any other part of the series if he hits it tonight.
Jordan Clarkson Over 12.5 Points (-110)
Jordan Clarkson's point prop is much lower than it was in the regular season because of tighter rotations that give most of the minutes to starters.
Clarkson is the best player on Utah's second unit. He is coming off a 21-point performance in Game 2 against Dallas.
Clarkson attempted 18 field goals in the first two games. He played 19 minutes in Game 1 and 22 minutes in Game 2.
He can be a streaky shooter, but he has the shot volume required to score 13 points and he should play the most minutes of any Utah reserve.
Aaron Gordon Over 14.5 Points (-105)
A lot of the focus on the Warriors-Nuggets Game 3 will be on Steph Curry's increased minutes.
Sure, you can look at the Golden State props and find spots you like, but Denver needs to win Game 3 at home and it must have other starters score around Nikola Jokic.
Aaron Gordon started the series 6-for-19 from the field. He managed 15 total points in those contest. That is not good enough to provide the right support for Jokic.
A 15-point game out of Gordon would provide a massive boost to the Nuggets. It may not guarantee a win, but it would be a huge help.