We've had a profitable start to this season and that will continue in the new year. However, last Friday was not our best night and we will be looking to get back on track. Backing a pair of big men may get the job done.
Karl-Anthony Towns and his Timberwolves ended 2023 with the top seed in the West. They will be in New York to battle the Knicks this afternoon. The Knicks may be a little shorthanded following their trade with the Raptors and Towns will look to take advantage.
Meanwhile, the Raptors will also be at home to host the Cavaliers and they will have to deal with Jarrett Allen, who has been dominant of late. He will look to continue that against a Raptors team he has enjoyed a ton of success against recently.
NBA Player Props Tonight
Karl-Anthony Towns Over 19.5 Points (-120)
3 p.m. ET | NBA TV
For Karl-Anthony Towns, the past three games have been a struggle. He has failed to crack 20 points in each of them and he battled foul trouble in the last two. However, he still is averaging 21.1 points per game this season and he has scored 20 points in 18 of his first 30 games (60%) this season. He also has a good matchup to bounce back against the Knicks.
Towns has cleared this line in his last two games against the Knicks, averaging 22.5 points per game in that span. However, he has enjoyed playing the Knicks ever since he entered the league. In 11 career games against the Knicks, he is averaging 24.8 points per game and scored 20 points in 10 of them. In those games, he is averaging 1.7 3s per game and shooting 43.2% from downtown.
Sure enough, Towns hit that average with two 3s in the first meeting against the Knicks this season. The Knicks are 21st in the league with 13.6 3s allowed per game and 20th in 3-point percentage defense (37.6%). They are particularly vulnerable to 3-point shooting big men. The Knicks are 28th in 3s allowed per game to power forwards and 30th against centers.
Towns will spend time at both positions playing with and without Rudy Gobert. Additionally, Towns is a Jersey native and he grew a Knicks fan. He will likely have many family and friends in attendance and he will be looking to put on a show. If so, I also like him to score 25, which you can take for +240 on DraftKings.
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Jarrett Allen Over 28.5 Points + Rebounds (-115)
7:30 p.m. ET | NBA League Pass
Jarrett Allen has started to get healthy just when the Cavaliers need him most. With the team being without Darius Garland and Evan Mobley (and Donovan Mitchell for a few games), Allen is averaging 19.9 points and 12.4 rebounds per game. The Cavs are 5-2 in that span. Allen has hit this last line in four of his past seven games, nearly clearing it by four points and rebounds combined.
However, he has started to create some separation because of his past three games. In those, Allen is averaging 24.3 points and 17.3 rebounds, hitting the over in all three with at least 36 points and rebounds. The highlight was the 20-20-5 game that he had against the Mavericks last Wednesday. He also cleared on just points with 30 against the Bucks on Friday.
Against Toronto, Allen has five double-doubles in his past eight games. In three of those games, he has topped 30 points and rebounds and Mobley will not be there to take a few extra rebounds from him tonight. The Raptors present a fairly neutral matchup, but they are allowing the 11th-most rebounds to centers. They also allowed 18 points and 17 rebounds to Jalen Duren on Saturday night. Just 18 points and 11 rebounds would do the trick here, but if he continues from his past three games, we will not be sweating this one at all.
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