We’ve got a manageable six game slate on tap for tonight. With these shorter slates, it can be easier to analyze as the matchups because there are less permutations and combinations to worry about. Whether you cleaned up yesterday, or you lost, today is a new day. With prop bets, we don’t need to wait for season-long storylines to play out. Every day is a new day. Fantrax wants to help you win a bit of money, so we will be giving you NBA Player Prop Bets every week. We’ll shy away from keying in on any particular sportsbook, as we know odds vary, and so do props. We’ll focus on our projections, and allow you to find your best odds. Let’s get into today’s props.
NBA Player Props for January 12
James Harden, OVER 40 Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Embiid is back in the lineup, and even with that fact, James Harden hit his 40+ PRA line against the Detroit Pistons the other night. I’m going back to that well tonight. Why? With the Oklahoma City Thunder as the matchup tonight, I feel pretty confident this game won’t be a blowout, as the Thunder have the 12th-best defense in the league and the 76ers have the 5th-best defense. It’s going to be harder to score than it normally is for both teams. The reason why I lean Harden tonight is because the 76ers play with one of the slowest paces in the league (27th fastest), as Harden and Embiid dominate the ball, but OKC plays with the 3rd fastest pace in the league. If the 76ers are going to keep up, they’ll need to push the ball more. More possessions likely mean more stat padding for James Harden and his huge usage rate. This is a slam dunk for me.
Kyrie Irving to record Double-Double:
Just as the Nets have found their footing to become a dominant team, KD gets a knee sprain that will keep him out for about a month. While the Boston Celtics present a terrible matchup for the KD-less Nets, one thing is for sure. Kyrie Irving cannot be guarded. And now he’ll be required to take on a bigger role than he’s had to in quite a while. That means more shots taken and more point guard duties. The Celtics have a top-10 defense in the league, so expecting 10+ assists may be a bit too much to ask for. Finding a Kyrie with 25+ points scored would be an easier opportunity to hit, and one that you may feel more comfortable with.
Pascal Siakam OVER 35 Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Toronto takes on Charlotte tonight. Charlotte does not play defense. Maybe they don’t want to. Maybe they can’t. It doesn’t matter why, it just matters that they don’t. Toronto is in a tremendous pace-up matchup where their normal 26th-league rank in pace goes up against the Hornets’ 10th-ranked pace. Fred VanVleet is struggling, Siakam has had to take on more of a role, and he’s been successful at doing so. Siakam has hit this mark in four of his last five. I feel good about his ability to make this happen again tonight!
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