Last night, an uncharacteristic shooting night from Stephen Curry against the Wizards did not lead to our best night, but Victor Wembanyama salvaged the evening with another stellar defensive performance.
We moved to 8-4 since the All-Star break and will go again tonight with a pair of battles in the West I have an eye on tonight.
The Kings have taken the first two games from the Nuggets this season. In Denver, they will likely get a battle from the defending champs. That means they'll need Domantas Sabonis to answer the bell against Nikola Jokic once again.
In the nightcap on ESPN, we have the Battle for Los Angeles, as the Lakers take on the Clippers. The Clippers are short "home" favorites, but they'll be shorthanded tonight. Look for LeBron James to take advantage with assistance from D'Angelo Russell.
However, first, we'll begin in Chicago with the Bulls hosting the Cavaliers following Cleveland's buzzer-beating victory over the Mavericks.
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Wednesday NBA Player Prop Picks
In the table below, you'll find each of Action Network contributor Alex Hinton's top NBA player props from today's slate of games. Click on any pick or team logo to navigate to a specific bet discussed in this article.
| Time (ET) | Player Prop |
|---|---|
| 8 p.m. | |
| 9 p.m. | |
| 10 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our NBA Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | |
Cavaliers vs. Bulls
Evan Mobley
Over 13.5 Points
When Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland are both healthy, they're the engine of the offense for the Cavaliers. However, there's still room for their big men to eat as well, which is why this line doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
Evan Mobley has scored in double figures in all but just four games this season and in 87% of his games since the start of last season. Here, we need two more baskets from him, but that shouldn't be an issue either.
He has scored 14 points in seven of his last 10 games. Even last night when he went under, he scored 12 and was only a bucket away from clearing this line.
Mobley is averaging 15.6 points per game for the seaso,n so even if he doesn't exceed his season average, he can still get over this number.
He does face a Bulls team that allows the fewest points in the paint per game this season. However, just last night, they gave up 14 points and 10 rebounds to Detroit's Jalen Duren.
Mobley has had his own success against the Bulls of late as well. He has scored 14 points in each of the last three meetings against them, including the matchup just two weeks ago.
Both teams played last night, so there's not a clear rest advantage here. The Cavaliers have battled a lot of injuries this season and have not submitted an injury report as of writing. If they were to hold someone out because of the back-to-back, particularly Mitchell or Garland, they would need a bit more from Mobley tonight and this line would tick up a bit.
However, I like his chances of getting 14 regardless of whether or not his star backcourt teammates play.
Pick: Mobley Over 13.5 Points (+102)
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Kings vs. Nuggets
Domantas Sabonis
To Record Triple-Double (+185)
Domantas Sabonis enters tonight's game on a recent tear of triple-doubles. He has recorded a triple-double in each of his past three games and nine of his past 12 — and one of those came against the Nuggets.
As a result, he has overtaken Nikola Jokic for the league lead with 21 triple-doubles on the season.
Sabonis' assists line sits at 8.5 tonight, and I noticed when he goes over that, he usually gets to 10 as well. He has gone over this number in 10 of his last 15 games, and he's averaging 10 per game in that span.
For tonight's game, rebounds may be the tougher leg to get considering he's going against Jokic, who's averaging over 12 per game himself. However, Sabonis has pulled down 10 rebounds in 51 of his 57 games this season, 14 of his last 15 games and in four of his last five games against the Nuggets. In fact, he's averaging 12.8 per game against the Nuggets.
The safer version of this play is his points, rebounds, and assists (PRA) line, which sits at 41.5 or 42.5 tonight.
However, Sabonis occasionally goes under that number but still gets triple-doubles. He did so on Monday night when he scored just 14 points against the Heat, which wasn't too surprising against Bam Adebayo. He's also scored 17 points or fewer in three of his last five games against the Nuggets as well.
I do lean toward Sabonis going over his PRA tonight, but the triple-double has better odds. He may not be the only big man recording a triple-double tonight, as Jokic also has a triple-double in his last three games and has 18 on the year.
While FanDuel has the best odds for Sabonis tonight, you can parlay them both to record a triple-double at +345 at DraftKings.
Pick: Sabonis To Record Triple-Double (+185)
Lakers vs. Clippers
LeBron James & D'Angelo Russell
James 20 Points & Russell 5 Assists
The Lakers often try to downplay their rivalry with the Clippers, but their players tend to raise their games against them.
In his career, LeBron James is averaging 25 points per game against the Clippers and 26.1 in 16 games as a Laker. He has had many battles both in the playoffs against Paul George and in the Finals against Kawhi Leonard.
Tonight, he'll just have to deal with Leonard, though Leonard may not guard him until crunch time.
James has scored 30 and 25 points in his first two games against the Clippers this season. I lean toward him going over 24.5 tonight, but he will reach 20 with ease.
Overall, James has scored 20 points in each of his last 10 games. He has also scored 20 in each of his last 10 games against the Clippers and 14 of his 16 games against them overall. Plus, in one of the two he went under in, he finished with 18 points.
Tonight, expect some of his points to come from assists by D'Angelo Russell.
Russell has gone over 5.5 assists in his last four games. James didn't play in two of those, and he sees in spike in his assists without James on the floor. He had 10 assists against the Clippers when James didn't play in the last matchup. However, he also had seven, six and six assists in consecutive games against the Clippers with James on the floor.
In their past five games, the Clippers have allowed at least five assists to Cade Cunningham, Stephen Curry, Mike Conley, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and De'Aaron Fox. All but Curry cleared their lines as well.
Russell has had at least five assists in eight of his past 10 games, so that should be a reasonable number for him to clear tonight.
James is questionable tonight, as he often is at this stage of his career, but I expect him to play in a nationally televised game. However, if he's ruled out for some reason, his leg will void, and I would pivot to Russell at 7.5 or 8.5 assists.
Pick: James 20 Points & Russell 5 Assists (-120)
