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Following a seven-game battle for the ages against the defending champion Thunder, the Spurs punched their NBA Finals ticket a full five days after the Knicks completed their ECF sweep of the Cavaliers. New York and San Antonio now get set to face off Wednesday night in Game 1 at Frost Bank Center, and Victor Wembanyama enter the series as solid favorites but with a fairly narrow projected advantage for the opening salvo, despite home-floor advantage.
As customary, we zero in on three player props to consider for tonight’s action. Also, be sure to check out our daily NBA betting trends page for odds and data on every game.
Wednesday’s Best NBA Player Props
- Mikal Bridges (NYK) – Over Points + Rebounds + Assists
- Stephon Castle (SAO) – Over Assists
- Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK) – Under Points + Rebounds
2026 Playoff Prop Bet Tracker: 60-53 (+1.41 units)
Mikal Bridges (NYK) – Over Points + Rebounds + Assists
Bridges famously flipped a switch to close out the first round and went on to generate elite shooting effort after elite shooting effort over the conference semifinals and finals save for one game. The versatile veteran averaged 19.1 points (on 69.1% shooting, including 47.6% from three-point range), 4.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals across 34.8 minutes per contest over the subsequent eight contests, only going cold in the decisive Game 4 against Cleveland when he connected on just four of his 16 attempts from the field.
Despite those struggles, Bridges still finished that elimination matchup with 23 points + rebounds + assists with the help of a perfect 6-for-6 tally from the free-throw line, pushing his record to the Over on the 21.5 to 9-0 since that Game 6 performance against Atlanta that kickstarted his hot streak. Bridges also posted PRA totals of 21, 21 and 32 during the three regular-season meetings with the Spurs, a sample that includes New York’s NBA Cup Championship Game win on Dec. 16. He shot 57.7%, including 50% from behind the arc, over the last two games vs. the Knicks as well, and the compilation of all those metrics certainly make a strong case for the Over.
Original line publish: 21.5
Stephon Castle (SAO) – Over Assists
Somewhat lost in the big picture of the Spurs’ valiant upset of the Thunder and Victor Wembanyama’s stellar individual exploits has been Castle’s remarkably steady first career postseason run. The 2024 fourth overall pick has been the Spurs’ most reliable complementary source of production, averaging 19.2 points, 6.7 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals over 33.5 minutes across 18 games. He’s shot a solid 48.1% overall as well, but one of the more eye-catching props attached to him for Game 1 is his 6.5 assists total.
Castle has dished out at least seven assists on seven occasions this postseason, and he finished on the hook with six dimes in another two games. The second-year pro also recorded 12 and seven assists in his first two regular-season encounters with the Knicks, and Castle is seeing 12.4 assist opportunities per game overall during these playoffs and tallying 18.2 asst. points created off them. With the likes of Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges likely to force Castle into passing some up shots and passing off to some of his teammates, this prop is in play.
Original Line Publish: 6.5
Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK) – Under Points + Rebounds
Towns has been a jack of all trades this postseason, alternating between serving as a primary scorer and capable facilitator while typically providing solid work on the boards as well. The big man is averaging 27.5 points + rebounds while adding 5.9 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals across 30.2 minutes over 14 playoff games thus far. Towns has been highly efficient on the offensive end as well, shooting 57.2%, including 48.9% from long distance. However, his points + rebounds line is set especially high for a matchup against Wembanyama and teammates, especially considering Towns’ aforementioned postseason points + rebounds average is just slightly below it.
Towns has gone an even 7-7 to the 28.5 over New York’s postseason run to date, and he went 0-3 to the 28.5 against San Antonio during the regular season (including the NBA Cup title game) while posting points + rebounds totals of 27, 27 and 26 and averaging a modest 10.3 shot attempts (compared to 13.8 overall in the regular season). As those numbers indicate, he’s been knocking on the door in all three games, but the Spurs rank in the top 10 in both total rebounds and points in the paint per game allowed since the start of the regular season. With San Antonio also surrendering just 109.5 points per home game since the start of the season — and 107.0 per game in the last three overall — the Under is a valid consideration here.
Original Line Publish: 28.5
Photo Credit: AP/David J. Phillip
