After a sleepy Halloween night in the NBA, Wednesday features a massive 13-game slate. We're getting our popcorn ready for a fantastic evening of hoops, and we're getting our player prop parlays ready on TAB. Today, we will share our four favorite props and explain why we view each over/under as a high-value betting opportunity.
We've got so much to look forward to in the Association tonight. The Celtics play the Pacers in a battle of undefeated squads. The Bucks and head coach Adrian Griffin take on the Raptors, his former team. The Pistons and Blazers square off in a battle of youth. Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs head to Madison Square Garden to battle the Knicks, who have been linked to Spida in trade rumors for a year. For the nightcaps, the L.A. squads duke it out and the Kings and Warriors engage in a playoff rematch.
Great Scott, that's a lot of good hoop — and it's only six of the 13 games! Needless to say, we will be busy with multiple streams on multiple screens. We'll also have multiple prop parlays in play on TAB, where there has never been a better time to sign up.
Below, we'll break down four of our favorite player props on TAB for Wednesday night's loaded NBA slate. Users don't necessarily have to parlay all four picks together, though. Instead, you could make separate two-leg parlays to increase your win probability or attempt to hit it big if all four picks come through.
Best NBA prop bets today: Player prop picks for Wednesday night
1. Damian Lillard, PG, Bucks at Raptors — OVER 26.5 points ($1.87)
Dame caught fire out of the gate in his Bucks debut last week, scoring 39 points on nine-of-20 shooting while adding eight rebounds and four assists. He simmered down in Game 2 before pouring in an easy 25 in an eight-point win over the Heat.
Tonight, we expect another offensive explosion for Milwaukee's shiny new toy, as Lillard averaged 32 points per game against Toronto last season. Khris Middleton also seems off for the Bucks, clearly not 100 percent health-wise to start the campaign. He's three-of-nine with just 11 total points through two games, and he has yet to eclipse 17 minutes in a game.
The Raps have pesky big men who can at least limit the offensive contributions of Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez, but we still expect Dame and Giannis to feast as the Bucks' primary scoring options. Who's guarding Lillard? Dennis Schroder and Malachi Flynn? Yeah, we'll gladly smash the OVER like the Bucks smash-accepted the Dame trade this offseason.
2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, PG, Thunder vs. Pelicans — OVER 40 points + rebounds + assists ($1.65)
We're very excited to finally watch the Thunder on prime time (10:30 a.m. AEDT, ESPN), and SGA is the main reason. The 2022-23 MVP candidate was my dark-horse pick to win the scoring title this season, and I have OKC sneaking in the playoffs via the sixth seed. With all the pieces around him healthy, Gilgeous-Alexander will shine even brighter than he did in his breakout season.
The dynamic point guard averaged a whopping 33.5 points per game against the Pelicans last season, and he added eight rebounds and 4.3 assists per contest. That's a total of 45.8, well over what we need for a green checkmark this evening.
The Thunder are much healthier this season, sure, but Chet, JDub, Giddey, and company still turn to SGA to shoulder the main scoring opportunities. He has already surmounted this total in three of OKC's first four games, so it's an easy OVER for us.
3. Nikola Jokic, C, Nuggets at Timberwolves — OVER 8.5 assists ($1.87)
Jokic has easily bested this assist total in two of Denver's first four games, but he fell short in the Nuggets' second and third contests. We expect him to be dishing out dimes all night this evening against a Wolves squad that seems inferior to the world champs in just about every way.
Joker averaged 12.7 assists per game against Minnesota last regular season. He then collected 30 assists across Games 3, 4, and 5 against the Wolves in the first round of the playoffs. He won't need to score 30 points to beat this squad, so he will take the opportunity to create for his teammates this evening. This feels like a safe OVER.
4. Dennis Schroder, PG, Raptors vs. Bucks — OVER 7.5 assists ($2.00)
Schroder served as one of my fantasy basketball sleepers this season, and through four games, he has yet to disappoint. He's averaging 8.8 assists per game as the Raptors' new point man, he's seen 32-35 minutes in all four games, and he was a +10 in Toronto's only win of the season.
In a game that should be a shootout — the over/under currently sits at 224.5 — we should see plenty of offense in this one. Schroder has tallied eight or more dimes in each of the Raps' past three games, and we have no reason to think the passing volume slows down now.
