Filip Tomic
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Only 6 teams hit the NBA hardwood this Thursday on a lighter 3-game slate, but we’ve picked out our best player props to add some excitement to the night. Make sure you also check out our NBA Picks for predictions on the side and total for all 3 games tonight. But for now, let’s jump into our best NBA player props for Thursday.
Damian Lillard over 32.5 points + assists (-106)
I actually had Lillard to score 25 points in my last player props bet and he let me down by scoring only 22 in the win over San Antonio. He did have 11 assists in that game, so I’ve now decided to play it a bit smarter and include him in my bet once again to make up for it. Dame has been handling the ball quite a lot lately and has had back-to-back games of double-figure assists while scoring 29 and 22. He’s cleared this line in 3 straight games, and against a defensively shaken-up Brooklyn squad that gave up 153 points in their last game, I believe he is set to have another productive stat line.
In his last 5 games against the Blazers, Lillard is averaging 37.4 points, 9.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds. In one of those games he dropped 60 points on them. I’m not quite expecting a repeat of that performance tonight, but he should have enough in his tank to get to 33 points and assists.
Be sure to check out our full Brooklyn Nets vs Portland Trail Blazers predictions
Kevin Huerter over 17.5 points + rebounds (-118)
When you talk about the Sacramento Kings’ success so far this season, most people will mention the likes of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis first. But I would argue the impact of Kevin Huerter on this team has been as equally good or even greater. He’s number one on the team in three-pointers per game, averaging 3.8 made on a mind-blowing 52.6%. Even the likes of Steph Curry would envy him on that accuracy, but it gets even crazier than that. In 7 home games this season, Huerter is making 63.8% of his three-point attempts and averaging 17.9 points per game. He has cleared this line in 3 straight games and with the way the San Antonio defense has played lately, I believe he could be in for a big scoring night.
San Antonio gives up the 4th-most opponent field goal attempts per game (91.3), the 9th-most threes made per game (12.7) and teams are shooting 49.8% against them, which ranks dead last in the NBA. After the Kings put up 153 in their last game vs Brooklyn, I believe they are going to reach 120 for the 5th game in a row. If that’s the case, then Huerter should land this bet comfortably.
Keldon Johnson over 2.5 made threes (-164)
In a stretch where the Spurs have now lost 6 of their last 7 games, Keldon Johnson is proving to be the only bright spot. With no clear superstar on the team, Johnson has taken over the reins on offense as the primary scoring option. That’s worked out really well so far for him individually – he is averaging 21.6 points per game in the month of November. His three-point shooting has also been lethal — he is making 3.6 shots per game on 8.7 attempts which translates into 41%. Only one player in the NBA has made more threes than him this season and that’s Steph Curry at 72. Johnson is currently in a 3-way tie for 2nd place with Buddy Hield and Jayson Tatum with 52 threes.
The Spurs don’t have much going for them at the moment, so the pressure is off Johnson here. The Sacramento Kings rank just 24th in opponent three-point percentage allowing 38.1%, with that number jumping to 39.2% in their home games. I’m expecting Johnson to continue his run tonight.
Be sure to check out our full San Antonio Spurs vs Sacramento Kings predictions
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