NBA PrizePicks Player Predictions: Tuesday (12/5)
The NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinals continue tonight, beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST. Will RJ Barrett break out his slump against the Milwaukee Bucks? Can D’Angelo Russell continue his solid play against the Phoenix Suns? And will Jusuf Nurkic go above his season averages in multiple categories against the Los Angeles Lakers?
Here are the three best NBA PrizePicks plays for Tuesday, Dec. 5.
Tuesday’s Best NBA PrizePicks Player Predictions
This Season: 11-18
RJ Barrett Over 1.5 Three-Pointers Made
After Friday night’s performance against the Toronto Raptors, Barrett has now gone five consecutive games with one or fewer three-pointers. During that stretch, he’s just 4-23. However, Barrett is still averaging 2.0 made three-pointers per game, and tonight he’s going to break out of his slump.
The Bucks allow their opponents to make 36.5% of their three-pointers this season. Though Barrett has played worse teams than that during his current cold streak, a 38.9% three-point shooter isn’t going to keep shooting below 25% in every game. If tonight’s matchup was awful for him, we’d avoid this prop. But since the Bucks are just middle of the road defending the three, look for Barrett to make at least two of his five or six attempts.
D’Angelo Russell Over 14.5 Points
Russell averages 17.5 points per game, though he is coming off a nine-point performance against the Houston Rockets. In his two games against the Phoenix Suns this season, he’s scored 14 and 19 despite shooting a combined 1-10 from deep during those games. If Russell can hit closer to his average of 2.2 made three-pointers per game, then he should be able to clear this number with ease.
You could consider playing one of Russell’s combo props as well. His points + assists is set at 20.5, while his points + rebounds is set at 16.5. While he does have at least seven assists in his last four games, he averages 6.6 this season. Therefore, for any of Russell’s combo props to hit, he’d likely need to score at least 15 points anyway.
Jusuf Nurkic Over 21.5 Points + Rebounds
Nurkic averages 12.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game this season. He’s hit this prop in each of his past three games, and earlier this season, he combined for 23 points + rebounds against the Lakers.
The key for Nurkic hitting this prop will be him avoiding a really bad shooting night. Though he’s scored at least 14 in his past three, he scored in single digits in each of the three games before his current stretch. This season, the Lakers are allowing the 13th most points in the paint and 15th most rebounds per game. Considering this isn’t a normal regular season game, Nurkic may play more than his usual minutes which supports him hitting closer to 25 for this combo.
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Tuesday:
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- College Basketball Odds, Picks & Predictions
- Top NBA Odds, Picks & Predictions
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Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.