A trio of guards headline Tuesday’s best NBA prop bets.
The pregame narrative: Jalen Brunson is rolling and in a great position to torch his cross-town rivals. Elsewhere, expect Tyrese Maxey to be active as a facilitator and Jordan Poole to light it up from deep.
Check out the best NBA prop bets for Jan. 21.
Best NBA prop bets
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Best bet: Brunson over 25.5 points (-118)
When Brunson gets hot, watch out.
Every season, New York’s point guard seems to go on a heater that gets him into the MVP conversation. Check out the tear he’s been on to start 2025:
- 29.2 PPG
- 50.2 FG%
- 30+ points in four of the past five games
Brunson is coming off a 34-point outing against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night. He’s also blown past this mark in his last six games.
And the Brooklyn Nets — Brunson’s opponent Tuesday — are anything but defensively responsible.
- Brooklyn sits 25th in defensive rating (116.7) and last in opponent field goal percentage (48.9%).
- They rank 28th in mid-range defence (45.3%), per Cleaning the Glass.
. - Brunson takes 49% of his shots from the mid-range, sitting in the 95th percentile for all NBA players.
My only concern with this wager is a Knicks blowout in which Brunson is pulled early.
Key stat: Brunson is averaging 34.6 PPG across his last five games.
Quick picks
Maxey over 6.5 assists (-120): Joel Embiid is out, again.
That should hamper Maxey’s output as a passer, as he’s averaging 6.6 assists with Embiid in the lineup and 5.5 without him.
But Maxey has cleared this mark in four of the past eight games without the big man, landing on exactly six assists twice. He also gets a nice matchup Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets. Denver is surrendering the third-most assists per game to point guards (10.07), according to Betting Pros.
Maxey had nine assists in his lone matchup against the Nuggets last season, though it is worth noting Embiid was in the lineup for that one.
Poole over 3.5 threes (+105): The Washington Wizards are a mess, but Poole is on a nice run.
Over the past 30 days, the shooting guard is averaging 4.7 threes on 11.1 attempts per game (42.1%). He’s cleared this mark in eight of 12 games.
Kyle Kuzma has been non-existent from deep this season (1.2 threes/game, 25.7 3PT%) and no other Wizard is averaging more than 2.0 threes per game.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles’ 36.6% 3-point defence ranks 23rd in the NBA.
Expect Poole to keep firing as the team’s only viable option.
Picks made at 9:50 a.m. ET on 01/21/2025.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.