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Jaren Jackson Jr. finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting yesterday despite being the most deserving candidate. Will it spur him to having a dominant night in Memphis?

Trae Young did not get a single vote for DPOY, which is no surprise. He is paid to score point in bunches, something he failed to do in Game 1 against the Miami Heat. Will he be the same player tonight in Miami as he was late last week in Cleveland? We have a history lesson for you on that one.

You never know on any given night what is going to motivate a certain player or a certain team, and the only thing you can be sure of is that motivation will come from somewhere. Just look at what happened with Nikola Jokic last night in San Francisco (pre-ejection) and what happened to Joel Embiid in Philadelphia as he jawed with Raptors coach Nick Nurse in response to a bunch of hard fouls.

We have another tripleheader tonight in the first round of the NBA playoffs, which is easily the best two weeks of the NBA season because of the amount of action we are seeing and the amount of games we get to watch. In a month we will look back fondly in those April nights when we had the DVR and the remote control working in such perfect sync.

Tonight’s triple treat begins with Young and the Atlanta Hawks trying to bounce back from a blowout loss in Miami, Ja Morant, JJJr and the rest of the Memphis Grizzlies trying to protect home court in Memphis to avoid an 0-2 deficit, and the seemingly out-of-their-league New Orleans Pelicans getting a second shot at the class-of-the-league Phoenix Suns.

At this point in the playoffs, you may want to think about starting some two-day parlays that you can make each morning so that you always have two-day action during this round. There will be tripleheaders Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and quintupleheaders Saturday and Sunday, so the opportunities are there for the taking.

For tonight, we will try to steer you toward a few things using logic and historical references. But remember, illogic is a part of the postseason, too, and spotting those instances where illogic is the logical result is more than half the battle.

Let’s have at it...

Atlanta (+7) at Miami: Young was 1-for-12 overall and 0-for-7 from 3-point range, which was mind-bogglingly bad in Game 1. Let’s put it in perspective. The last time Young shot 1-for-12 or worse as a professional was...never. The only thing that came close this past regular season was a 3-for-17 (0-for-5 from 3) night against Chicago in the first game after the All-Star break. Despite the shooting woes, Young still finished that game with 14 points and 10 assists. Last season, Young was 1-for-11 and 0-for-2 on 3s against Utah in a road game. In 2019-20, Young made at least two buckets in every game, and as a rookie he had a 1-for-12 (1-for-7 on 3s) game against Chicago in which he still managed 12 assists. Young had just four assists and six turnovers Sunday. So, yeah, it was his worst game as a pro. And it says here he will not have a night like that again anytime soon, which means bettors should take the over on Young’s 3-pointers at 2.5 (-140) and assists at 8.5 (-150) while steering clear of his points line, which seems about right at 26.5.

None of Miami’s starters played more than 33 minutes after they had a week of rest, so this game is the Heat’s to dominate from the outset. But before you go giving the seven points, keep in mind that Young is making a career out of playing his best in other teams’ arenas. He is one of the few players in this postseason who can be a one-man show and lead his team to an unlikely victory, which he did last year in the first round against New York and the second round against Philly. Tread carefully in this series. Miami should sweep, but what should happen and what actually happens are not necessarily the same thing. If you want a flyer, take P.J. Tucker to double-double (+1500). He was terrific in Game 1 and played only 24 minutes.

Minnesota (+6.5) at Memphis: Perhaps we owe Karl Anthony-Towns an apology for that pulse line from last Friday. Turns out he does have one. He and his teammates rose to the occasion in Game 1 and made the case that the team that appeared on national television less than anyone else in the playoffs is not to be taken lightly despite the No.7 seed. The Wolves went 2-2 against the Grizzlies during the regular season with one of their victories coming by 43 points, so we have to ask ourselves: Is this the worst possible matchup that could have come Memphis’ way?

The Minnesota player who played especially well in the season series was D’Angelo Russell, who had just 10 points on 2-for-10 shooting in Game 1. With Memphis expected to key on Anthony Edwards and Towns defensively, an opportunity will be there for Russell should he choose to take it, and actually get to the foul line at least a half-dozen times, something most starting PGs do every game. (The author has had a pet peeve about that since Russell played for the Nets). Russell has had only three 20-point games since March, and his point total over/under for tonight is probably too high at 18.5. Take the under there (-120), take Jarred Vanderbilt over 5.5 points (+105), and Jaren Jackson Jr. to go over 2.5 blocks (+100) - he had seven last game. Play those with Minnesota and the points (-110). The line appears to be set too high.

New Orleans (+9.5) at Phoenix: We did not exactly see the Suns gets tested on Sunday night, did we? They were down 19 at the half, rode Jonas Valanciunas a bit in the third quarter in scoring 37 points (they had just 34 in the entire first half) and pulling within eight, then watched Chris Paul go off for 19 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter.

This is clearly a mismatch, and the only danger for Monty Williams’ team is taking the Pels too lightly following the 11-point victory in Game 1, barely covering the 10.5-point spread. The first thing we expect is for New Orleans coach Willie Green to get under the skin of a couple of his underachievers, including Dovente Graham - 0 points in 12 minutes did not exactly live up to a contract paying him $11m. We would not wager a penny on anything involving Graham or Jose Alvarado, the other natural point guard on the Pels who is not starting, but we would counsel you to watch that situation. One of those guys needs to step up.

For player props, we like a parlay that includes DeAndre Ayton going over 0.5 3-pointers made (+325). He was 1-for-1 last game and will need to draw Valanciunas away from the basket at a nice price. We also like Devin Booker over 4.5 assists (-140) and the game to stay under 221.5 (-110) as both teams will have had 48 hours to concentrate on defensive adjustments. The Pels went over only nine times in 34 games as a road ‘dog.