Andrew Ortenberg
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The NBA week is about to kick off with a jam-packed Monday slate that features some intriguing matchups. You can of course always get our thoughts on the side and total for every NBA game under our ‘NBA Picks‘ tab, but right now we’re going to be talking about props. Player props in the NBA are one of my favorite things to bet, as you can really dig into matchups and how you project a game to flow. Without further ado here are our top three plays for Monday:
LeBron James over 25.5 points (-110)
I think James is going to have a huge game here. He always relishes the opportunity to play against a former team, and after the Cavs just embarrassed the Nets and their Big 3 I think James will be especially inclined to make a statement. James has played two games against Cleveland since leaving for the Lakers in free agency, and he’s scored at least 31 points both times. This is also the second half of a back to back for the Cavs, so I think they’ll be a bit gassed and not have their legs under them on defense. From a matchup perspective, the Cavs don’t have anyone who can cover James. Isaac Okoro is a promising wing defender, but he’s still a rookie and not big enough to stay in front of James anyway.
Be sure to check out our full-game preview for Los Angeles Lakers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers.
LEBRON JAMES DAGGER #LakeShow bettors continue to win
🔥 32 points
🔥 8 assists
🔥 5 rebounds
🔥 Wpic.twitter.com/qAJomQAF2V— Pickswise (@Pickswise) January 22, 2021
Luka Doncic over 9.5 assists (-110)
After a slow start to the season Doncic has been picking up his assist totals recently, and he now has at least ten dimes in seven of his past ten games. In a game with a total in the 220s, I don’t see any reason to believe he’ll come up short of that here. Denver’s defense has been lackluster this season, and they just gave up 28 assists to Chris Paul over their last two games. These teams just played a few weeks ago and Doncic had 13 assists. Doncic torched the Nuggets for 38 points as well in that game, so I think the Nuggets will go all-out to prevent him from scoring here which will free up more easy looks for teammates.
Be sure to check out our full-game preview for Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks.
James Harden over 24.5 points (-110)
Harden has been pretty quiet since Kyrie Irving came back and the Nets’ Big 3 was solidified, which has caused oddsmakers to drop this total too low. He’s a sleeping giant, and I think he’s about to wake up big-time here after only attempting eight shots in the first game of this two-game set. Brooklyn put up 128 points in that one, and it was more of a game-flow related fluke than anything else that caused him to wind up with only 12 points. Remember, in his first two games with the Nets he scored at least 32 points both times, so let’s not overreact. Harden has at least 11 assists in all five games with Brooklyn, so it’s not like the ball isn’t in his hands at all.
Be sure to check out our full-game preview for Miami Heat vs. Brooklyn Nets.
Pickswise is the home of free NBA picks and predictions. We will cover all the big offseason news before making picks for every game during the 2021 season.
