It’s a quiet Sunday schedule in the NBA with just three games on the docket but some serious mismatches make for a few enticing player props.
I’ll look for Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets to do damage against the lowly New Orleans Pelicans while a couple of rebound props for Alperen Sengun and Domantas Sabonis have also caught my eye.
Keep reading for my top three NBA picks for Sunday, December 22.
Best NBA player props today
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Nikola Jokic Over 38.5 points and assists (-116 at bet365) -
Alperen Sengun 13+ rebounds (+175 at bet365) -
Domantas Sabonis Over 13.5 rebounds (-132 at bet365)
Picks made on 12-22 at 11:45 a.m. ET.
NBA player props for December 22
Prop bet #1: Nikola Jokic Over 38.5 points and assists
Despite the Denver Nuggets’ slow start to the season, Nikola Jokic has been doing everything in his power to guide the offense, ranking second in the NBA in both points (31) and assists (9.8) per game this season.
Jokic and the Nuggets should enjoy an early Christmas present tonight as they take on the struggling New Orleans Pelicans, who have lost 15 of their last 16 games.
The three-time MVP is in the midst of his highest-scoring month of the season, averaging 33.6 points per game in December. His assist numbers have taken a slight hit but still sit at a solid 8.4 per game.
Jokic is averaging nearly 41 points plus assists per game this year and has recorded Over 38.5 in six of his last eight contests.
The Pelicans are allowing 116.7 points per game, tied for the seventh-worst mark in the NBA, so there should be plenty of opportunity for both Jokic and his teammates to run up the score.
Prop bet #2: Alperen Sengun 13+ rebounds
Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun has emerged as one of the NBA’s premier rebounders in his fourth season, snatching 10.6 boards per game — good for ninth-most in the league.
The Rockets big man could be poised for another huge game on the glass against a Toronto Raptors squad that’ll be missing Jakob Poeltl for the second straight contest, leaving a big mismatch at the center position for Sengun to take advantage of.
Poeltl leads the Raptors with 11 rebounds per game and accounts for nearly one-quarter of the team’s total boards and Toronto clearly missed their starting center on Thursday as they fell 101-94 to Brooklyn while getting outrebounded 53-34.
The Raptors have actually been one of the better rebounding teams in the NBA this year at 55.5 boards per game (5th) but have seen that average fall to just 49 per game over their last three contests with Poeltl either sitting out or playing at less than 100%.
Sengun has snagged at least 13 rebounds six times this season and I think he can hit that mark again vs this young and undersized Raptors team.
Prop bet #3: Domantas Sabonis Over 13.5 rebounds
Sticking with another rebound prop, I’ll look to Domantas Sabonis to continue his dominance on the glass. The Sacramento Kings center ranks second in the NBA with 13.3 boards per game and should be able to hit the Over tonight against an Indiana Pacers team that’s been brutal at rebounding.
Indiana ranks second-last in the league in rebounds per game (40.1) with their top two rebounders, Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner, both averaging just seven per contest.
The Pacers have been especially bad on the offensive glass with just 8.4 boards per game (29th) and that’s where Sabonis does most of his work, snagging 9.9 defensive rebounds per game.
The Kings big man is fresh off a 19-rebound performance against the Lakers and is averaging a clean 14 boards per game over his last 10 outings. Sabonis has notched at least 14 rebounds in four of his last six contests.
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