Atomic’s NBA Playoffs Best Bet: Cavs @ Knicks -4/23

RJ Barrett had his most efficient shooting night in awhile and still only had 19 points he has gone under in his  L8/9 games against this cavs team they are the #1 drtg. We have seen all these playoff games be really slow paced and drawn out so RJ has had even less opportunities for attempts he has attempted 12,13,12 field goals so even on an efficient night it seems as if this is his ceiling for field goals in the series which I can live with him scoring 18 on 12 field goals as we all know it’s unlikely with how inefficient RJ is as well as how good Cleveland is defensively. We have seen him struggle in the past against them and I like to stick with this system of going 0.5U then next game upping it if he does have a good shooting night and it’s a good read if that happens I’ll likely play it again for 1U as the matchup isn’t changing so my reasoning would not either. He has also only been getting 31 minutes a game in this series despite normally getting 35+ with IQ & Hart his usage and opportunity has just gone down significantly so especially against this stout defense I have no problem fading him. Especially when you combine all this with a slow pace & CLE is allowing the #6 fewest points per game to small forwards when compared to their averages so positionally they have done a good job against them as well and it shows in the series even if Garland or Mitchell are on him and they aren’t the best defenders it makes it easier when you have Mobley and Allen always lurking around the rim which RJ wants to get into especially since the shot is more likely to not fall for him which will force him to try to score inside I can live with him catching fire as we know that’s not the likely outcome with someone like him.