NBA Player Props Bet Picks & Predictions: Friday (1/3)
Happy New Year all! As we turn the page on 2025 I hope all your resolutions happen and you find big wins in the New Year. It's always interesting this time of year in life and work but we still have NBA to bet on which means life is good. It's been a great season, and I hope we continue that trend tonight. As always, monitor injury news and lineup announcements. The best way to stay sharp regarding NBA player props is by staying on top of the news. The second best way is to shop around at different books. Player props rarely have identical odds across platforms so make sure you're getting the best value. Let's get to it.
Unless specified otherwise, each bet will be a single unit.
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Friday’s Best NBA Player Prop Bets
Last Time: 2-1 | Season: 75-52
DeMar DeRozan Over 27.5 Pts + Ast + Reb (-121 Caesers)
When first looking at Memphis as an opponent, it's scary with their high-ranked defense. But the Grizzlies are the fastest-paced team in the NBA. He's found a little drop in the scoring department over the last six games, which is why the prop has dropped on his PAR. But DeRozan has averaged over 20 points a game with four boards and assists each. The Grizzlies have allowed the fifth most assists to opposing power forwards and their frontcourt is banged up right now which won't help them defensively against Sacramento. DeRozan's line is a bit too low for my liking in what should be a high-possession affair.
Cade Cunningham Under 27.5 Points (-120 DraftKings)
After failing to reach 28 points in three of his last four games you'd think his scoring prop would go down but it did the opposite. Yes, I understand the matchup is friendly for scoring against Charlotte. Even with that in consideration, this is still too high of a prop. At his peak, Cunningham is averaging under 24 points a night. He's only covered this prop in 31 percent of games and Charlotte allows 24 points a night to point guards in total. We should see an increase in scoring projections for the Oklahoma State product, which should be higher than his seasonal averages but no higher than 26. So even though you're paying some juice for this prop, I'm happy to dive on the under.
Dejounte Murray Over 18.5 points (-110 DraftKings)
Pick a player, any player, and bet his overs against the Washington Wizards. It's been working for me so far this year and I'm not going to stop now. The Pelicans may be banged up but they are still playing at home tonight as a 7.0-point favorite. Murray is projected closer to 20 points tonight because his usage has seen a spike and no team allows more scoring to opposing point guards than the Washington Wizards. This will be a bigger pace-up spot for the Pelicans going against the fourth-worst defense. New Orleans ranks second worst in that metric so there is a good chance this is a high-scoring affair and Murray will have to take even more attempts. Find someone to hammer on the Pels but I'm going Murray.
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Ryan Coleman is a featured writer at BettingPros. Follow him on Twitter @ryancoleman_98. For more from Ryan, check out his archive.