It’s a light night of NBA action, with just five games on the schedule. But what lacks in quantity makes up in quality with some really great matchups on the basketball betting board. And some of those matchups have some sneaky good value in the player prop markets.
Speaking of that, sportsbooks are overlooking a certain Suns player’s potential with Devin Booker sidelined, while Zion Williamson will be a force in the paint against the Jazz, and Anthony Davis will clean the glass against a banged-up Celtics team playing the second half of a back-to-back.
Here are my best NBA player prop picks for Tuesday, December 13.
NBA player props for December 13
Picks made on 12/13/2022 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Today’s best NBA player props
The odds widgets below represent the best odds currently available for each betting market at regulated sportsbooks.
Sturdy Bridges
Phoenix Suns star guard Devin Booker will miss another game due to a hamstring injury and I’m not sure sportsbooks have adjusted to his absence for tonight’s matchup against the Houston Rockets.
Maybe a bit surprisingly, the player who stepped up in Booker’s absence was Mikal Bridges. The Suns’ wing and defensive specialist is averaging 15.8 points on 11.9 field goal attempts per game this season but immediately took advantage of his added opportunity with Booker out.
Bridges jacked up 23 shots, scoring 27 points in the Suns' last game against the New Orleans Pelicans. That includes going 5-of-13 from 3-point range. Bridges has been a solid shooter from distance all season hitting 42.7%.
On top of that, Bridges has had the hot hand with or without Booker of late, hitting 44.2% of his threes over his last six games, with three or more threes four times over that stretch.
Yet, we are still getting nice plus money on the Over 2.5 for Bridges 3-pointers made prop going against a Houston team that has a real problem when it comes to defending the 3-ball.
In fact, the Rockets are one of the worst in the NBA at protecting the arc. Houston surrenders the second most 3-point attempts per game while ranking 25th in opponent 3-point shooting percentage.
This is sneaky good plus-money value with Bridges, with the combination of no Booker and this matchup against the Rockets.
Mikal Bridges Prop: Over 2.5 made 3-pointers (+136)
Double trouble
The New Orleans Pelicans have been one of the best surprises through the first third of this NBA season. Currently riding a seven-game winning streak, the Pels now sit atop the Western Conference standings at 18-8.
Simply put, a healthy Zion Williamson makes all the difference in the world, and so far in the month of December, Williamson is showing that transcendent talent that got him selected first overall a few seasons ago.
Williamson has looked close to unstoppable over his last six games, putting up 31.2 points per contest on a ridiculous 68% shooting from the field. He has also put that big body to work on the glass, hauling down 9.3 rebounds per contest over that stretch, and he could be in for another big game when the Pels visit the Utah Jazz.
The Jazz’s tune has changed after a hot start to the season, dropping eight of their last 11 games, and tonight’s matchup against Zion and the big and physical Pels is a bad one for them.
The Jazz have struggled on defense recently, and are really getting punished on the inside. Utah ranks dead last in the NBA in opponent points in the paint per game. Additionally, the Jazz are a middle-of-the-pack team when it comes to rebounding, ranking 15th in rebound rate and 18th in opponent rebounds per game.
With Zion grabbing double-digit boards three times over his last six games, the +255 price on him to record another double-double is too tempting to pass up in this matchup.
Zion Williamson Prop: record a double-double (+255)
Brow does he do it
It doesn’t appear that Anthony Davis’ flu-like symptoms were that bad after all.
Davis continued his next-level play for the Los Angeles Lakers after missing a game and going for 31 points and 12 rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers and followed that up with 34 and 15 against the Detroit Pistons last time out. And now AD has a chance to have another big game on the boards against the visiting Boston Celtics.
The Celtics have the NBA’s best record at 21-7, but are in a tough situation on Tuesday night. Boston is closing out a six-game road trip involving four west-coast games, which included a matchup last night against the Clippers that the Celtics lost 113-93.
Not only are the C’s playing a back-to-back, but their big men are pretty banged up heading into this matchup as both Robert Williams and Al Horford will be out for this matchup.
And while the Celtics have played extremely well this season, their one weakness is on the boards. Boston ranks 22nd in both rebounding rate and opponent rebounds per game.
This means Davis is going to be a problem. He's averaged 15.2 boards per game over his last 12 full games, hauling down 13 or more rebounds nine times in that 12-game stretch. With a battered and tired Celtics team playing the second half of a back-to-back, I’m betting AD makes it 10 times in his last 13.
Anthony Davis Prop: Over 12.5 rebounds (-113)
