It’s opening day in MLB but there is still seven games in the NBA that deserve a little attention. As always, TNT is bringing us a double header starting in Brooklyn at 7:30pm ET when the Nets welcome the Charlotte Hornets. When finish, we head to Los Angeles where the Denver Nuggets take on the Clippers. They is more than enough action when you include player props to keep bettors busy tonight.
I’ve got two player props I like which I will discuss here. Don’t forget to check what our NBA analysts have backed with side and total picks for all seven games tonight.
Dejounte Murray over 20.5 points +assists (-125)
Line available at publishing at BetMGM
I was waiting all day to see was Dejounte Murray’s points plus assists line and I couldn’t be happier at where it came out. It was expecting 23-25 as this kid has been smoking lately but the books had other ideas. Player props are all about value and we have more than enough here.
In his last four games, Murray has had a range of 12-23 points. He’s had at least six assists in every game topping out at eight in one of them. In those four games, he’s reached 20.5 points plus assists in three of the four. He’s taking an average of 15 shots per night which is what we want out of a prop like this.
Some bettors might be nervous because the Spurs are on a back to back. They beat the Sacramento Kings last night but that shouldn’t worry anybody. Just take a look back Murray’s game log and you will see why I’m not concerned. In his last three back to back situations, Murray has gone over this number every time. Comfortably I might add. He’s young, he can run all night.
The Hawks are a great team for the Spurs to see because their defense has been grade A garbage recently. Only one team in the NBA has been worse defensively in terms of efficiency than the Hawks. No team in that span has seen more of their opponents field goals come assisted. The Spurs have been operating at a top six pace over the last three contests which further helps our cause.
I like Murray to score in the mid teens with 20 point upside. If that happens, we should get home easily.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for Atlanta Hawks vs. San Antonio Spurs.
Devonte’ Graham over 3.5 threes made (+134)
© Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports
Line available at publishing at FanDuel
One guy that has benefited from the LaMelo Ball injury is Devonte’ Graham. NBA player props are all about role and usage and Graham’s has changed a bit these days. He’s always been a three-point shooter but in the past four games he has been almost exclusively a three-point shooter.
In the Hornets’ last four games, Graham has taken at least nine three-point attempts in every one. One game he took 16. Imagine that, 16 three-point attempts in a single game. The thing is, Graham isn’t just taking them, he’s hitting them too.
In his last four, he has hit at least four in three of the games. In the game he didn’t, he hit three so it’s not like he wasn’t a threat to go over. What’s better, Graham has only taken 55 shots over the four game stretch. 44 of those shots were threes.
The couch and duck strategy should keep up tonight as the preferred way to attack the Nets is to launch threes. Over their past three games, only five teams have seen opponents attempt more threes. At +134, Graham seems like a good value as he should see the volume and has seen the accuracy recently to pull this off.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for Charlotte Hornets vs. Brooklyn Nets.
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