NBA fans are treated to a loaded 13-game slate on Friday.
The pregame narrative: My favourite prop picks for the busy evening centre on Mikal Bridges, LeBron James, Alperen Sengun and Jaden Ivey.
Check out the best NBA prop bets for Nov. 8.
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Best bet: Bridges over 14.5 points (-130)
Jalen Brunson is an obvious target against the Milwaukee Bucks’ porous defence versus guards. But his points line is a hefty 28.5.
Even if he cooks, that’s a big number to hit when his scoring is down three points from last season thanks to the New York Knicks’ addition of Karl-Anthony Towns.
So I’m turning my attention to Bridges, who’s scoring less in New York but has remained efficient from long range. And his shooting from the field is the best it has been since he was tasked with taking on a larger offensive role following his move to Brooklyn.
Much was rightfully made about Bridges’ new-look shot ahead of the season but he’s shooting 49.5% from the field (his best mark since 2021-22) and 37.0% on 3s, matching his career mark.
Bridges has scored at least 15 points in all but one game and I expect the Knicks to score plenty on Milwaukee, which is on a back-to-back.
Brunson and Towns may do the heavy lifting. But there should be enough shots to go around for Bridges, the team’s No. 3 scoring option.
Key stat: No team allows more points to guards than Milwaukee, according to Betting Pros.
Quick picks
James under 23.5 points (-118): LeBron’s shot volume is down to a career-low mark and so is his scoring production.
He’s still averaging an exceptional 24.0 points per game, which is particularly impressive considering he’ll turn 40 next month.
While his Los Angeles Lakers have a juicy matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers, that’s part of the reason why I’m fading him. Philadelphia is down stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, creating huge blowout potential in this one.
The Lakers are at home and should pump the 76ers, which would give coach J.J. Redick an opportunity to find extra rest for his stars.
An obvious candidate would be James, who is 4-4 versus this line through eight games.
Sengun over 9.5 rebounds (-130): The Houston Rockets centre is averaging a career-best 11.4 rebounds despite logging his fewest minutes since his rookie season.
Sengun has reached double figures in six of eight games with 11-plus boards five times.
Only six teams allow more rebounds to the centre position than the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have a worse rebounding rate than every team outside of the Washington Wizards.
The only two games Sengun fell short of 10 boards came against the San Antonio Spurs, the No. 2-rebounding team in the NBA.
Sengun had 11 and 12 rebounds in his last two games against OKC.
Ivey over 1.5 threes (-130): Ivey and the Detroit Pistons get the Atlanta Hawks, who are a mess defensively.
Atlanta ranks 26th in defensive rating, 28th in PPG allowed and last in opponent 3-point percentage.
Teams are converting 40.6% of their 3-point shots versus Atlanta on an astronomical 43.2 attempts per game.
Ivey is shooting 41.3% from deep on a career-high 5.1 attempts a night.
Expect the third-year guard, who is 6-3 versus this line, to unleash from long range.
Picks made at 12:54 p.m. ET on 11/08/2024.
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.