Today’s NBA Player Prop Picks: Cunningham Has Hands Full in Boston

The NBA season hits the home stretch of the pre-All-Star Game slate, as teams count down the days until an extended break from basketball. 

But before we push pause on the NBA betting, Wednesday has a packed schedule with 11 games on the board. That means piles and piles of NBA props. We sort through those odds and give you our favorite free NBA player prop picks for February 16.

NBA player props for February 16

• Cunningham Under 14.5 points (-105)
• Curry Over 16.5 points (+100)
• White Over 22.5 pts + asts (-118)

Picks made on 2/16/2022 at 12:25 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.

Today’s best NBA player props

Shipping off to Boston

The Detroit Pistons visit the red-hot Boston Celtics tonight, with the C’s extending their winning streak to nine games with a dominating performance over the rival Philadelphia 76ers last night. 

Wednesday is the second of back-to-back outings for Boston, but since it blew out the Sixers on Tuesday, minutes were spread around, and the Celtics starters got some much-needed — and deserved — down-time in the fourth quarter.

That means Boston has fresher legs to throw at Pistons rookie star Cade Cunningham. He’s mired in a bit of a funk in February, recovering from a hip injury that held him out of five games. Since returning, Cunningham has totaled 24 points (12 per game) on a collective 10-for-29 shooting (34%) including a 2-for-10 count from beyond the arc in limited minutes.

Cunningham played 27 minutes in Monday’s loss at Washington but did find himself in foul trouble, getting whistled for handsy defenses. The rookie will have those busy hands full tonight, likely drawing checks on Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown. On top of that, he takes on the NBA’s most stingy defense at the moment.

The Celtics have a suffocating 95.5 advanced defensive rating during their winning streak, limiting opponents to an average of only 94 points on less than 38% shooting. Cunningham will draw the ire of that Boston defense tonight and his point total of 14.5 seems a little lofty considering his current form.

Pick: Cade Cunningham Under 14.5 points (-105 at DraftKings)

Spicy Curry

Hey, a road game for the Brooklyn Nets! That means Kyrie Irving’s in action, right? WRONG.

The Nets head to Manhattan to play their crosstown rivals the Knicks, and New York’s vaccine mandate will keep Kyrie at home for tonight’s contest. That means with no Irving, Harden in Philly, and Ben Simmons and Kevin Durant on the sideline, there are plenty of touches to go around for the remaining members of the Nets.

One guy that made the most of those extra looks is one of the newest pieces of Brooklyn’s backcourt, Seth Curry. He dropped 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting in 32 minutes versus the Sacramento Kings on Monday, including a 3-for-8 performance from 3-point range.

Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash ran plenty of plays that catered to Curry in his debut and with a few practices under their belt, expect him to create more scoring opportunities for the “other” Curry brother over the next few games, as the Nets play inside the Empire State in four of their next five outings. 

The Knicks’ once-sound defense is showing cracks this month. New York lugs a defensive rating of 116.8 (25th) in February, allowing an average of 120 points per game (28th). Granted, the bulk of those tallies came on the road but New York just allowed 112 points in regulation to the OKC Thunder – the worst offensive club in the league. 

Curry, who is averaging more than 15 points per game on the season, is going to get his minutes while he can and will have a green light tonight in the Mecca.

Pick: Seth Curry Over 16.5 points (+100 at DraftKings)

The Price Is Right on White

While the basketball world marvels at what DeMar DeRozan is doing in Chicago – and they should – Bulls point guard Coby White is quietly making leaps and bounds. 

The third-year guard was at the center of many trade rumors come the deadline but with his place on this roster secure, he’s playing with added confidence and it’s showing up in the boxscore. White has posted stat lines of 22 points and six assists, 16 and five, and 24 and six in his last three outings.

Chicago welcomes the Sacramento Kings to the Windy City tonight, with Sacto among the worst defensive clubs in the NBA and clearly less-than-focused on the season. The motivations of the Kings are even more in question given this is their final game before the All-Star break and players are counting the minutes until they can get away from losing basketball games for a few days.

White has played 34 and 37 minutes in the last two games with guard Zach LaVine on the sideline and has started in place of Lonzo Ball in three of the last four contests. Both of those backcourt mates are out tonight, which means White will be at the wheel of this offense.

We like him to keep the points and assists coming, eclipsing his modest combo total of 22.5 points + assists. 

Pick: Coby White Over 22.5 points + assists (-118 at bet365)

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