Ahaan Rungta
Show Bio
Before the world sweats Super Bowl Sunday in just a handful of hours, it’s time to build the bankroll for the weekend with action in the association The author is now 32-22 for a +13.1% ROI on the season with player props in this article series. These are two of his favorite NBA player prop bets for Friday, February 9.
Tobias Harris (PHI) Over 4.5 assists (+108)
Line available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing. Recommended 1u wager.
The Philadelphia 76ers will be scrambling for bodies tonight at home as they host the Atlanta Hawks. Still, the Vegas total is high and the spread is short for this matchup, meaning the books are expecting high pace and as a consequence, starters should get heavy minutes. With Joel Embiid, De’Anthony Melton, Nicolas Batum, and Robert Covington already ruled out, Buddy Hield and Cameron Payne pending trade, Patrick Beverley on his way out in that trade, and Tyrese Maxey questionable, the leader of the team clearly becomes Tobias Harris, who has already showed tendencies to acquire a larger playmaking role when Embiid is inactive.
Harris already averages 4.1 assists per 36 minutes this season without Embiid and now faces an Atlanta Hawks team that has allowed the second-most assists per game on the season and seventh-most assists per game over their last seven games. Harris will see one of the best defensive forwards in the NBA in Jalen Johnson and scoring one-on-one will be more of a challenge than dishing in this one. We project 4.75 assists in tonight’s contest, making this plus-money bet a valuable snag.
RJ Barrett (TOR) Under 21.5 points (-122)
Line available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing. Recommended 1u wager.
One of the newest Toronto Raptors has been hot in his lsat few games; although RJ Barrett has cleared this line in his last four games, it was partially thanks to a couple of soft matchups and partially thanks to efficient shooting. In this span, Barrett has gone 57.4% from the field and 40.0% from three which is simply unsustainable for a player of his track record.
Tonight, Barrett will be a tough matchup in the Houston Rockets. On the season, the Rockets rank top-five in the NBA in defensive efficiency and defense at the rim and top-ten against the three-ball. Although veteran point guard Fred VanVleet is out tonight, rookie Amen Thompson is no slouch defensively and Barrett will see plenty of one-on-one matchups against Dillon Brooks, one of the best isolation defenders in the NBA. Since getting traded across the border, Barrett averages 22.4 points per 36 minutes alongside Immanuel Quickley despite a bulk of his opponents being lackluster on defense. In this spot, we project him for 20.0 points and the line has already moved to 20.5 on some other books. Snag this sell-high while you can.
