There are just six games on today’s NBA schedule, but plenty of star power will be on display as the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, and Oklahoma City Thunder all take the court.
My NBA picks for Sunday, December 29 will look for Trae Young to keep dishing out dimes, Jayson Tatum to continue draining threes, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to put up another high-scoring performance.
Best NBA player props today
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Trae Young Over 11.5 assists (-116 at bet365) -
Jayson Tatum Over 3.5 made threes (-120 at bet365) -
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Over 31.5 points (-111 at bet365)
Picks made on 12-29 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
NBA player props for December 29
Prop bet #1: Trae Young Over 11.5 assists
The Atlanta Hawks opened as just a 1-point favorite over the Toronto Raptors today but I think that’s selling Trae Young and his team a bit short. The star point guard is averaging an NBA-best 12.2 assists per game while the Hawks look for their fourth straight win.
Young has picked up at least 13 dimes in three of his last four games, averaging 12.8 assists over that span. He’s also notched at least 10 assists in eight of 10 games this month.
I like his chances of collecting Over 11.5 assists today against a Raptors team that’s really fallen off defensively. Toronto is in the midst of a nine-game losing skid and is coming off a dreadful 155-126 loss to the Grizzlies.
The Raptors are allowing 118.5 points per game this season — the fifth-worst mark in the league — and that number has bloated up to 123.6 during their losing streak.
The Hawks, who rank eighth in points per game (117.3) and have scored 117+ in three straight outings, should be able to run up the score against the Raptors. That means Young should have plenty of opportunity to dish out some dimes.
Prop bet #2: Jayson Tatum Over 3.5 threes made
It’s been raining threes all season long for Jayson Tatum and I’ll be looking for that trend to continue when the Boston Celtics welcome the Indiana Pacers to TD Garden tonight.
Tatum ranks third in 3-point attempts per game (10.5) and fifth in 3-pointers made per game (3.9) this year — both huge jumps from his averages in 2023-24 (3.1-8.2).
The Celtics forward has dropped at least four treys in three of his last four games and came up just short against the Pacers on Friday as he went 3-for-10 from beyond the arc.
The Pacers have not been great at defending the three as they rank 19th in the league in opponent 3-point percentage (36.6%). Indiana gave up a whopping 23 treys on 56 attempts to the Celtics in Boston’s dominant 142-105 win on Friday.
Although Tatum shot just 30% from long range in that game, I like his odds of making at least four tonight if his high-volume approach keeps up as he’s converting on over 37% of his attempts this year.
Prop bet #3: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Over 31.5 points
The Oklahoma City Thunder sit comfortably atop the Western Conference standings with a 25-5 record and 10 straight wins in regular-season play, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been a major reason for that success.
The point guard is tied for second in points per game this season (30.8) with Nikola Jokic, just behind Giannis Antetokounmpo (32.7). SGA has been even better in December, though, taking over top spot with 32.5 points per contest.
Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 30 points in 13 of his last 18 contests and is just two games removed from a season-high 45-point effort against the Pacers, which marked his second straight 40+ point outing.
The Grizzlies are by no means an easy mark for SGA and the Thunder as they sit second in the West, but Memphis has done its damage on the offensive end rather than locking it down defensively.
Memphis tops the NBA with 124 points per game but is allowing 115.8 points per contest — 21st in the league — while averaging 125 points against over their last two games.
Gilgeous-Alexander is accounting for nearly 30% of his team’s scoring so he should have another big night if the Grizzlies want to make this a battle between offenses.
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NBA odds today
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