{"id":387437,"date":"2025-12-19T10:23:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T15:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?p=387437"},"modified":"2025-12-19T10:23:49","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T15:23:49","slug":"nba-prop-picks-and-predictions-december-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/nba-prop-picks-and-predictions-december-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Best NBA prop picks Dec. 19: Back Jalen Johnson, Joel Embiid and Mikal Bridges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Friday&#8217;s NBA slate features just five games, and I&#8217;m zoning in on a matchup between the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers for two of these prop bets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Today&#8217;s NBA props narrative<\/strong>: Joel Embiid is rounding into form after an injury-plagued start to the season and should be able to clear a modest point total tonight. Speaking of injuries, the Knicks are missing several key bodies, making Mikal Bridges an intriguing target. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-8f1effd0-db18-40a8-916e-091372420d9e\">Check out my top NBA prop picks for Dec 19, featuring a best bet on Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Join NorthStar Bets &amp; start betting on the NBA<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-0a4ee124-09d4-4260-81c9-fd6fe232dbb3\">NBA prop picks Dec. 19<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-479767b6-5872-497b-ac44-239c07c7e3d5\"><strong>Best bet:<\/strong> <strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong>Johnson over 23.5 points (-125)<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Johnson went nuclear for the Hawks last night against the Charlotte Hornets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>43 points<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>11 rebounds<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>9 assists<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>That was also Trae Young&#8217;s first game back from injury, and the all-star point guard didn&#8217;t try to drive much offence. Young scored just eight points on eight attempts in 20 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m not sure if Young will play in tonight&#8217;s back-to-back after recovering from a knee injury. But if he does, he will likely be on a minutes restriction, meaning Johnson will be the top dog against the San Antonio Spurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">See full props for Spurs vs. Hawks<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And San Antonio is dealing with a similar situation regarding Victor Wembanyma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The superstar returned this week, has been on a minutes restriction, and played last night, putting his status for tonight&#8217;s matchup in doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Johnson would be in better shape to fill the basket if he didn&#8217;t have to deal with the 7-foot-4 defensive menace, but I like his chances of clearing this total regardless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his lone game against Wembanyama, Johnson scored 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Hawks&#8217; power forward is averaging a career-high 23.6 PPG and has cleared this mark in six of his last 10 games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-479767b6-5872-497b-ac44-239c07c7e3d5\"><strong>Key stat<\/strong>: Johnson is averaging 29.5 points in his four games on no rest this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Best NBA picks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Embiid over 22.5 points (<b>-106)<\/b><\/strong>: Embiid is questionable for tonight&#8217;s game with an illness. If he suits up, this should be a good matchup for him to run wild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Karl-Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart are all out. Those are two big bodies and a premier defender Embiid won&#8217;t have to deal with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Full betting markets for Friday&#8217;s five-game NBA slate<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The former scoring champ is averaging 22.3 PPG in December while taking 19.3 shots per game. That type of volume should put Embiid in a good position to clear this line on a nightly basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He scored 22 points his last time out and 39 the game before that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">NBA player prop predictions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong><strong>Bridges over 16.5 points (<\/strong><\/strong>-125)<\/strong>: Bridges has a Grade-A opportunity to fill the basket with those aforementioned Knicks sidelined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jalen Brunson will be the primary scorer, but Bridges and OG Anunoby are next in line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Bet on 76ers vs. Knicks in New York<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I feel better about backing Bridges because of his consistency:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>10+ points in 16 straight games<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>14+ points in 13 of his last 16<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>16+ points in 9 of his last 16<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The forward hasn&#8217;t been great on back-to-backs this year, but it&#8217;s a small three-game sample. Last season, he averaged 16.9 points on 50.8% shooting in 16 games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-84329f2b-7888-4034-9979-03e8608897e5\"><em>NBA prop picks made at 10 a.m. ET on Dec. 18, 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Sign up to NorthStar Bets today<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Friday&#8217;s NBA slate features just five games, and I&#8217;m zoning in on a matchup between the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers for two of these prop bets. Today&#8217;s NBA props narrative: Joel Embiid is rounding into form after an injury-plagued start to the season and should be able to clear a modest point total [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":387425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sidebar_plugin_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[452,62],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-387437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-com","category-nba","tag-nba"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NBA prop picks Dec. 19: Best bets, predictions &amp; odds | The Boost<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"NBA prop picks Dec. 19, 2025. 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