It’s a jam-packed night of hardcourt action with 10 games on the board, which means there is no shortage of value to be found in the NBA player prop market.
The Hornets are bad but the Spurs are worse, so which Charlotte player is creating the most buzz in the point total market? Buddy Hield will look to fine-tune his shooting form against the Bulls before entering the 3-point shooting competition at All-Star weekend. And, finally, Dejounte Murray will have his hands full with a red-hot Jalen Brunson.
Here are my best NBA player prop picks for Wednesday, February 15.
NBA player props for February 15
Picks made on 2/15/2023 at 1:30 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.
Free buckets
To put it nicely, things are going poorly for the Charlotte Hornets this season, as their eyes are set on Victor Wembanyama and the NBA Draft lottery.
They’ll have some work to do if they want to be as bad as the San Antonio Spurs. Heck, the Hornets are 7-point favorites in tonight’s matchup against a Spurs team that only has 14 wins on the season.
That’s because the Spurs hand out buckets like kids hand out Valentines in their classes. Everyone gets one. San Antonio ranks dead last in the NBA in defensive rating, scoring defense, opponent field goal percentage, and opponent 3-point shooting percentage.
The question is which Hornet to back in this matchup — it appears that LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier have elevated point totals, so my money is on veteran Gordon Hayward.
The Hornets’ small forward has a reasonable point total set at 15.5. Hayward is averaging 13.8 points per game this season but he is just recently looking like he is fully healthy. Hayward has played 33 or more minutes in three of his last four games, averaging 17.5 points over those four contests.
He’s put up 21 and 26 points in his last two games, and I’m betting Hayward keeps his hot hand going against the shell of the Spurs' defense.
Gordon Hayward prop: Over 15.5 points (-105)
Buddy bounce back
Indiana Pacers sharpshooter Buddy Hield will take part in this weekend’s 3-point shooting contest. Hield won the contest back in 2020 as a member of the Sacramento Kings and the way he is shooting the ball this year, Hield will have a chance to win again.
Tonight, that shooting will be a problem for the Chicago Bulls.
Hield is hitting a crazy good 42.3% of his nine 3-point attempts per game this season. Despite coming off a rough shooting night against the Jazz, he’s been even hotter lately. Over his last 11 games, he has upped his shooting average to 45.1% from beyond the arc and has drained four or more threes nine times over that stretch.
Now, he faces a Bulls team that really struggles to defend the perimeter. The Bulls rank 25th in opponent 3-point attempts and 23rd in opponent 3-point makes per game. They’ve had plenty of trouble containing Hield in two meetings against him this season.
Hield went off against the Bulls back on Oct. 26, going 7-for-12 from downtown, and followed that up with a 4-for-11 performance against them on Jan. 24. I’m backing Hield to find his good form once again in this matchup and go Over his 3-pointers made prop in the process.
Buddy Hield prop: Over 3.5 3-pointers made (-105)
Defense first
The New York Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks renew their rivalry when they face off on Wednesday night. The Knicks come into this one playing well, winners of four of their last five games, thanks to Jalen Brunson taking his game to the next level lately.
Brunson is averaging 33.1 points per game on 57.6% shooting over his last seven games. So, taking the Over on his 26.5 points total may look tempting, but the Hawks have done an effective job containing Brunson, holding him to 20, eight, and 19 points in three meetings against them this season.
Most of that credit goes to Hawks guard Dejounte Murray. Murray is a lockdown defender who generally takes on the toughest assignments on a gamely basis. Sometimes, that effort on defense can take away from his production on the other end of the floor.
Murray is averaging 21 points per game this season but has been held to 20 points or fewer five times in his last six games. On top of that, the Knicks hold opposing guards to the third-lowest field-goal percentage.
While Murray has had some success against the Knicks this season, Brunson is playing his best basketball right now and I expect Murray’s priority to be slowing him down.
Dejounte Murray prop: Under 20.5 points (-115)
