We are still in the middle of that beautiful time between Christmas and New Year’s where there is nothing better to do than just sit back and dive into some NBA player props, and with nine games on the board, there is plenty of basketball betting value to be found.
Can Jaren Jackson Jr. take advantage of the Lakers' problems in the paint? Will Chris Paul pick up the slack on the boards with Deandre Ayton out? Check out our NBA prop picks for Wednesday, December 29, as we bank on some of the NBA's best to do their thing.
NBA player props for December 29
- Jackson Jr. Over 23.5 Points + Rebounds (-120)
- Paul Over 4.5 Rebounds (-105)
- Bogdanovic Over 2.5 Made Threes (-145)
Picks made on 12/29/2021 at 12:05 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
If you're signing up for a new sportsbook for the 2021-22 NBA season, here are two of the best welcome bonuses available:
USA: Caesars Greetings! From now through 1/19/2022, any user that opts in to Caesars’ promotion and places $100 worth of settled bets (by 1/19) will receive a gift card for a FREE NBA Jersey. Opt in Now
Canada: Bet $1, get $100 in free bets when you sign up with BetVictor! Sign Up Now
Today’s best NBA player props
Grizzly attack
It took a matchup with the flightless Houston Rockets for the Los Angeles Lakers to end their slide but things will get tougher again right away when they visit Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.
Prior to the win over the Rockets, the Lakers looked lost. They had lost five in a row, going 1-4 ATS, and have lost Anthony Davis for the next little while due to a knee injury.
The Grizzlies meanwhile, have bounced back from a three-game losing streak of their own by notching back-to-back wins over the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. Morant is coming off his best game since his return, but it has been the play of Jaren Jackson Jr. that has the Grizz looking like a more complete team.
The Grizzlies' power forward has taken his game to the next level since the end of November. Over his last 14 games, he has been averaging 18.6 points, while adding 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. Now, he gets a juicy matchup against a Lakers squad that was struggling on the interior when AD was playing, allowing the third-most points in the paint in the NBA.
Jackson put up 25 points and grabbed five boards when these teams last met back on Dec. 9 and considering he has put up 25 points + rebounds eight times in his last 14 games, getting that number at 23.5 for tonight’s game looks like a solid bet.
Pick: Jaren Jackson Jr. Over 23.5 Points + Rebounds (-120 at FanDuel)
Board man gets paid
COVID is running through both the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Phoenix Suns at the moment, but the two will still face off in a Western Conference matchup on Wednesday night.
Phoenix is missing some of its best interior players as Deandre Ayton, Jae Crowder and Frank Kaminsky are all out for this matchup and the Suns have felt the impact, dropping consecutive games for the first time since late October.
Luckily for them, they still have the likes of Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and Mikal Bridges going against a shorthanded Thunder team that had depth issues even when everyone was healthy.
The Thunder are also one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA, ranking dead last in opponent rebounding per game and 23rd in rebounding percentage. So, this looks like a perfect opportunity for Paul to have one of his patented all-around great performances.
Paul averages 4.1 boards per game this season but, with his big men M.I.A., he has pulled down five or more in each of the last three games. With the Thunder already allowing the fifth-most rebounds to opposing guards, Paul looks like a great bet to go Over his rebounding total in this one.
Pick: Chris Paul Over 4.5 Rebounds (-105 at FanDuel)
Blazers Bogged down
The Utah Jazz have continued to roll right through the holidays, having won 12 of their last 14 games. They’ll look to stay hot when they visit Northwest Division rival, the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Blazers have struggled this season and have dropped 12 of their last 15 games overall. The defense continues to be an issue as Portland ranks 28th in defensive rating and 26th in opponent points per game. But the area where it really struggles is on the perimeter, where it ranks dead last in opponent three-point shooting percentage.
That is not a good recipe for success against a Jazz team that takes more threes than anyone in the NBA and ranks fifth in shooting percentage from beyond the arc.
The Jazz player with arguably the hottest hand at the moment is Bojan Bogdanovic. The small forward is coming off a 1-for-7 performance against the San Antonio Spurs, but overall he has been on fire. Bogdanovic is hitting 47.5 percent of his attempts from deep over the last 12 games, hitting three or more threes eight times over that stretch.
This number is juiced a bit but it looks like a lock heading into this matchup.
Pick: Bojan Bogdanovic Over 2.5 Made Threes (-145 at FanDuel)
Did you know that if you played today’s NBA props as a parlay, you could win $50.48 on a $10 bet?
Use our NBA parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
