Joel Embiid scored 50 points on Wednesday as the Sixers rallied to beat the Wizards on the road. Tonight, they will be in Atlanta to battle the Hawks. Embiid could be in for another big night but Trae Young and the Hawks may have something to say about that.
If someone for the Warriors scores 50 points, it will likely be Stephen Curry. However, like his teammate, Draymond Green has found the range behind the arc. That may continue in Oklahoma City tonight.
Meanwhile, the Clippers have won seven of their last 10 games. During that span, Kawhi Leonard has been a solid facilitator. He has another good matchup tonight as the Clippers look for another win in Utah.
Let's dive into my top three NBA player props today, including prop bets for Joel Embiid, Draymond Green and Nikola Jokic.
Joel Embiid leads the NBA in scoring at 33.1 points per game. He was able to extend his lead over Luka Doncic with his performance on Wednesday night. It was his 12th 30-point game of the season. Tonight, he gets the Hawks, who are 27th in points allowed per game this season and 23rd in points allowed to centers.
While Embiid is averaging 33 points per game this season, he has only hit that in a game seven times this season. He did score 30 points in the first meeting in November, but he was hooked on 32 points. He has also scored 33 points in just one of the last four games against Atlanta. However, he has scored 30 points in 12-of-17 games this season and three of his last four games against the Hawks, both hit rates of 70% or better.
Embiid is -200 to score 30 points tonight. To reduce the juice (and get plus odds), I am combining him with Trae Young to get 10 assists. Young is averaging 10.6 assists per game and is second in the league behind Tyrese Haliburton. He has 10 assists in 12-for-19 games this season. He also has 10 assists in four of his last games against the Sixers, averaging 12.2 assists per game in that span. Philadelphia is 24th in assists allowed per game as well.
With this combo, we are backing two of the NBA's best in their respective categories. They are both in great matchups and have high hit rates both overall and against their opponents. DraftKings has the best price for this combo as it is +105 on FanDuel.
Pick: Joel Embiid 30+ Points / Trae Young 10+ Assists (+128)
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Draymond Green plays with two of the greatest shooters in NBA history in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and he has set up a lot of their makes. While Curry is shooting just about 43% from beyond the arc this season, the rest of his teammates are shooting just 34.3% from three. Green has been an exception to that group.
Green is making 44.7% of his three-point attempts this season, which is well above the 31.7% for his career. He is attempting three per game, his most per game in four years. Green is typically a pass-first player, but he is also one of the smartest players in the league. With his teammates struggling to shoot, he knows they need a little more offense from him.
Green is averaging 1.3 made 3s per game this season, which would be the second-highest per game average of his career. He has made at least one three pointer in 8-of-13 games this season and seven of his last 10 games. Due to his hit rates in the range of 60-70%, this line is a bit juiced. However, we're only asking for one three.
Green has made at least one three in each of his last three games against Oklahoma. He made two 3s against Oklahoma City in November and you can take him to knock down two at +250 on DraftKings. The Thunder are allowing 13.3 3s per game this year and rank 19th in the league. Chet Holmgren is averaging 2.4 blocks per game this season and he may not have much interest in guarding Green on the perimeter tonight. Green knocked down a three-pointer on the first possession of a couple of games recently, so he may give us a quick cash tonight.
Pick: Draymond Green Over 0.5 Three Pointers Made (-166)
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Since Nikola Jokic became an All-NBA level player, he had one of his worst games on Wednesday night. Against the Clippers, he shot just 9-for-32 and the 23 misses are the most that he has missed in a game in his career. Despite that, he still scored 22 points. Tonight, Jokic and the Nuggets are back home where they have been much better offensively. Jokic, in particular, is averaging 32.2 points per game and shooting 59.5% from the field at Ball Arena.
Jokic gets the Rockets tonight, who are improved this season, but are much better at home. In Houston, the Rockets have the league's second best defensive rating, but they are 25th in defensive rating on the road where they are still winless. Regardless, Jokic has dominated this matchup.
Jokic has averaged 35.3 points against the Rockets, while scoring 32 points in all three meetings this season. However, Jokic has also dominated the glass against the Rockets. In the first two games in Houston, Jokic pulled down 21 and 19 rebounds. In the last matchup, he still had 10 rebounds, but ended hooked on 42 points plus rebounds in that game.
As a result, he is cleared this line in two of the three games. However, he smashed the line with 57 points and rebounds combined in the two games that he went over. Additionally, he has hit this line in nine of his last 15 games and finished with 42 in two others. He should have not much difficulty getting 43 points and rebounds combined tonight.
Pick: Nikola Jokic Over 42.5 Points + Rebounds (-110)
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