NBA Best Player Prop Picks, Odds, Predictions for Sunday, May 17, 2026
We’re down to one semifinal-round series, and that battle will culminate in Sunday night’s Game 7 between the Cavaliers and Pistons. It’s been a nip-and-tuck series between the two Eastern Conference heavyweight so far, and another wire-to-wire battle is highly likely to unfold given the stakes and the fact Cleveland already prevailed in one game in the Motor City.
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.
Sunday’s Best NBA Player Props
- Tobias Harris (DET) – Over Points + Rebounds
- James Harden (CLE) – Over Points + Rebounds + Assists
- Cade Cunningham (DET) – Under Points + Rebounds +Assists
2026 Playoff Prop Bet Tracker: 46-32 (+9.86 units)
Tobias Harris (DET) – Over Points + Rebounds
Harris had an extended run of success and a surefire Over bet to open the postseason, but the veteran has hit a bit of a wall in the last two games. The first relatively underwhelming performance came in Game 5, when Harris mustered 19 points + rebounds despite playing a postseason-high 40 minutes. His shot, which had already shown some signs of distress in Game 4, took another turn for the worse, as he went just 6-for-19 from the floor. Harris then truly bottomed out in Friday’s Game 6 despite Detroit’s win, as he finished with a playoff-low six points on 2-for-7 shooting.
He did extend a streak of 5+ rebound games to 13, and given his struggles, his line has experienced a nice drop of three points + rebounds to 22.5. With everything on the line Sunday, banking on Harris to have a bounce-back performance is a sharp path to consider, and despite his recent downturn, he’s still averaging 26.5 points + rebounds over 13 playoff contests. It’s also important to note the seven shot attempts in Game 6 were a significant anomaly for Harris, who’d averaged 16.8 field-goal attempts this postseason coming into Friday.
Original Line Publish: 22.5
James Harden (CLE) – Over Points + Rebounds + Assists
Harden has had some productive games during the latter portion of this series, as he’ll check into Sunday averaging 37.7 points + rebounds + assists across 39.0 minutes over his last three games. The Beard is shooting just 39.6% overall in that span, but his 40.7% success rate from deep and 84.8% conversion rate on 11.0 free-throw attempts per contest have helped prop up the scoring end of Harden’s points + rebounds + assists.
Considering the stakes of Sunday’s game, it’s likely a safe bet Harden approaches or exceeds the 16.0 field-goal attempts per contest he averaged in Games 4-6. He also put up 34.0 points + rebounds + assists in three regular-season games against Detroit, going 3-0 to the Over on this prop in the process. Harden is also bringing down 58.5% of his 10.6 rebounding chances per contest during the current series, which has helped give him a relatively solid floor in that category.
Original Line Publish: 29.5
Cade Cunningham (DET) – Under Points + Rebounds + Assists
Our focus is typically on Overs, but Cunningham is an exception Sunday. The star guard has seen his production fluctuate a bit during the series, and he’s fallen short of 40.5 points + rebounds + assists in four of the first six games, as well as in three of the four regular-season meetings between the teams. That leaves Cunningham with a 7-3 mark to the Under on this prop against Cleveland since the start of the regular season, and he’s shot 38.5% overall in the entirety of that sample.
Cunningham has exceeded this line twice in this series, but it took him 27 shot attempts in each of those games to help him get there. Cunningham hasn’t come close to that number of attempts in the other four games, topping out at 19 FGA in Games 1 and 6. With Duncan Robinson back in the fold and Harris extremely likely to take more than the aforementioned postseason-low seven attempts he tallied in Game 6, Cunningham simply may not see the necessary offensive usage for him to get to at least 41 PRA.
Original Line Publish: 40.5
Photo Credit: AP/Duane Burleson
