I’m targeting three big names for Friday’s top NBA prop picks.
The pregame narrative: Tonight’s plays are on Ja Morant and Bradley Beal, who should benefit from Kevin Durant’s return to the Phoenix Suns’ lineup.
Check out the best NBA prop bets for Dec. 13.
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Best bet: Morant over 21.5 points (-112)
We continue to get light lines on Morant, which is unlikely for much longer if he can put together a good run of health.
Morant’s numbers are down and he’s already missed three weeks after a season in which he was limited to nine games due to suspension and a shoulder injury.
But the Memphis Grizzlies point guard is an elite scorer and appears to be getting hot.
He has two 30-plus point games in his last three and averaged more than 25.0 points in each of the last three seasons.
Morant will be fully rested for this plus matchup, having not played since Dec. 7 after sitting out a back-to-back.
The Brooklyn Nets allow PGs to score at a top-10 rate and are 25th in the NBA in defensive rating.
Key stat: Morant scored 25 on the Nets in November and has cleared this number in four of six games since returning from a hip injury.
Quick picks
Beal over 3.5 assists (+120): Durant is expected to return to the Suns tonight after an ankle sprain sidelined him for the last three games, all losses.
This is the second time Durant has already been on the shelf this season. While KD’s minutes and production might be limited, his return without question cuts into Beal’s scoring upside.
Beal will go back to the third option on offence alongside Durant and Devin Booker. That should theoretically improve his assist upside.
In 59 career games with Booker and Durant, Beal has averaged 4.8 assists (per StatMuse).
He averaged 5.0 assists in 53 games with the Suns last season, marking the seventh straight season he has recorded more than 4.0 dimes per game.
Beal’s assist numbers are down this season but he’s still 7-8 versus a 3.5 line and has topped this in three of his last four.
This looks like solid value in a game that has the highest total (233.5) of tonight’s eight-game slate.
Picks made at 1:30 p.m. ET on 12/13/2024.
Chris joined NorthStar Gaming from Covers.com where he was a publishing editor and wrote betting content. Before that, he was the sports editor at VICE Canada, worked for theScore and covered the Blue Jays for MLB.com. In addition to filling out the lineup card each day for the editorial team, Chris writes frequently himself, primarily on the NBA and MLB.