Yesterday, the Hornets made the first of what could be a few notable shakeups to their roster when they sent Terry Rozier to Miami for Kyle Lowry and a future first-round pick.
Tonight, they will be in Detroit to take on the Pistons and could struggle to defend Jalen Duren.
Meanwhile, despite a rash of injuries, the Grizzlies have remained competitive and gone 5-4 in January. Vince Williams Jr. is one of the biggest reasons why with his strong play of late. Tonight, he will look to help the Grizzlies pull out an upset in Miami.
And finally, in ABC's Wednesday prime-time game, the Suns will be in Dallas taking on the Mavericks. Luka Doncic is questionable for tonight's game, but he may feel a bit better when he sees the Suns on the schedule.
Let's take a look at my top three NBA player prop picks for Wednesday's games.
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NBA Player Prop Picks
In the table below, you'll find each of Action Network contributor Alex Hinton's top player prop picks from Wednesday'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 |
|---|---|
| 7 p.m. | |
| 7:30 p.m. | |
| 8:30 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. | |
Hornets vs. Pistons
Jalen Duren
Over 26.5 Points + Rebounds
In his past 10 games, Jalen Duren has seven double-doubles. In that span, he's averaging 15.8 points and 10.8 rebounds.
When Duren has had a great matchup, he has feasted of late. We backed him against the Wizards on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and he had 21 points and 19 rebounds. He also had 21 and 12 against the Spurs recently as well.
Tonight, Duren gets the Hornets, who are allowing both the second-most points and rebounds to centers, per FantasyPros. Duren has not faced Charlotte since October, but he took advantage of the matchup himself with 14 points and 17 rebounds.
That was despite the Hornets' own talented young center, Mark Williams, being in the lineup. Williams is out once again, and backup Nick Richards is questionable as well.
Since Richards has been out, Charlotte has gone with P.J. Washington at the five. Washington will pose his own problems for Duren offensively, but he will struggle to keep him off the glass.
Duren has pulled down at least nine rebounds in each of his last four games against the Hornets. In the other three games, he had 13 rebounds or more.
Duren could have another monster game on the glass, but 13 rebounds would put him about halfway toward this line.
Additionally, Cade Cunningham is probable for tonight's game. Cunningham creates many easy looks for Duren, and he has scored 15 points in six of his last 10 games with Cunningham in the lineup.
That should help Duren reach 27 points and rebounds combined, and I wouldn't be surprised if he cleared 30 again.
Pick: Duren Over 26.5 Points + Rebounds
Grizzlies vs. Heat
Vince Williams Jr.
Over 20.5 Points + Rebounds
In January, Vince Williams Jr. has been an all-around contributor, averaging 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. Tonight, I'm going to focus on two categories with him, as I feel this line is too low.
Williams has played 30-plus minutes in each of his past five games and scored in double figures in all of them. In three of those games, he nearly cleared this line with just points, scoring 17 in those contests.
His 3-point shooting has played a factor, as he knocked down at least two 3s in each of his past four games and eight of his last nine games.
He's shooting 42.6% from 3 in January and gets a solid matchup tonight in that regard. Miami is allowing 13.3 3s per game and ranks 19th in the league in that area. The Heat are also allowing the seventh-most 3s to shooting guards per game.
Additionally, Williams has also been crashing the glass extremely well for a guard. He has at least five rebounds in each of his past five games and seven rebounds in four of them. While Memphis has typically rebounded as a committee this season, Williams still leads the squad this month.
Williams is averaging 16.6 points and 7.4 rebounds over his past five games. We only need him to reach 21 points and rebounds when he has been hitting 24 of late. With his workload in recent games, I like his chances of getting there.
Pick: Williams Over 20.5 Points + Rebounds
Suns vs. Mavericks
Luka Doncic
Over 33.5 Points
Luka Doncic has scored 34 points in three of his past five regular-season games against the Suns. In the two he didn't, he scored 33 in one of them and was injured in the opening minutes in the other.
The last time he saw Phoenix was Christmas night when he dropped 50 points in the NBA's nightcap.
That game was part of the remarkable run that Doncic is on right now. He's averaging 35.7 points per game in his past 15 games, and he has hit this line in nine of those games while getting hooked on 33 four other times in that span.
Now, a few of those games have come without Kyrie Irving, who's also questionable tonight.
The Mavericks will need both of them to knock off the Suns tonight. With their big three in the lineup, the Suns have won six straight games.
However, they have had to rally from 20 points down twice in their past four games because they're still not defending at a high level. That's part of why I like Doncic tonight, along with his proven success against this team.
It's also NBA Rivals Week, and while the Suns and Mavericks met in the 2022 Western Conference semifinals, Doncic's personal rivalry is with Devin Booker. The two have had a few spats in the last few meetings. However, Doncic may instead have a duel with Kevin Durant tonight.
Durant has scored 40 points in each of his past two games. It's +1860 on FanDuel for both Doncic and Durant to score 40 points again. In a game with a total over 240 points, that's certainly a possibility.
Pick: Doncic Over 33.5 Points
