It’s a ball night! With eight games on the NBA odds board, there is plenty of value to be found for tonight’s NBA player prop picks.
Tonight, I’m fading Joel Embiid when the 76ers host the Pacers. I also like a Grizz guard to clean the glass vs. the Nets, and the T-wolves to let it fly against the Lakers.
Here are my NBA picks for Friday, December 13.
Best NBA player props today
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Embiid u29.5 pts (-115 at bet365) -
Bane o5.5 rebs (+115 at bet365) -
DiVincenzo 3+ made threes (+115 at bet365)
Picks made on 12-13 at 3:15 p.m. ET.
NBA player props for December 13
Prop bet #1: Joel Embiid Under 29.5 points
The Philadelphia 76ers are playing better basketball. Joel Embiid is back for the Sixers, and they get a good matchup against a struggling Indiana Pacers team.
That said, I’m not ready to back Embiid in this spot. In fact, I’m willing to fade him.
The former MVP is playing just his sixth game of the season, and while he’s coming off a game against the Chicago Bulls where he put up 31 points, it wasn’t pretty.
It took Embiid 28 shots and six free throw attempts to get those 31 points, going 13-for-28 from the floor. And those attempts were aided by the fact that the Bulls run at the highest pace in the NBA, creating more possessions for the slow-moving Sixers.
Indiana also plays at a fairly high tempo but should be able to put up a decent fight against Embiid with Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam. The Pacers allow the sixth-fewest points to opposing centers per game.
It’s still clear that Embiid is working through rust and nagging injuries. Plus, his conditioning doesn't look great. Until he proves he can stay on the court and be much more efficient when he’s on it, I’ll happily fade his point totals.
Prop bet #2: Desmond Bane Over 5.5 rebounds
The Memphis Grizzlies are one of the hottest teams in the NBA. The Grizz have won nine of their last 10 games, going 8-2 against the spread in the process, and should continue their domination as they host the Brooklyn Nets as 10.5-point home favorites tonight.
The Nets are clearly not on the same level as the Grizzlies, and one place where it will really show is on the boards. Outside of Nic Claxton, the Nets are a really bad rebounding team. In fact, they rank dead-last in the NBA in rebounding rate.
Meanwhile, Memphis is great at team rebounding, entering this matchup ranked third in rebounding rate. So, it’s not surprising I’m targeting a Grizz player’s rebounding prop for this one. What may be surprising is the actual player I am targeting.
That’s because it’s Desmond Bane. The Grizz shooting guard has been really aggressive on the boards this season. His 6.0 rebounds per game ranks third on the team.
Bane’s rebounding prop is sitting at 5.5 for this matchup against the Nets. That’s a number he’s eclipsed 11 times in his last 15 games overall. Mix in the plus money oddsmakers are giving us, and this looks like a solid bet on Friday night.
Prop bet #3: Donte DiVincenzo 3+ made threes
Talk about trending in opposite directions.
The Los Angeles Lakers began the season hot, starting 10-4, and are just 3-7 since. Now, injuries are the cause of some of that, but their defense is arguably the other, and now they’ll have their hands full with Anthony Edwards and a Minnesota Timberwolves team that has won four of its last five, including a 190-80 beatdown of the Lakers back on December 2.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both a little banged up in this matchup, but healthy or not, the Lakers' effort on defense has been lacking this season. They enter this game ranked 26th in defensive rating and have really struggled on the perimeter.
The Lakers are a middle-of-the-pack team when it comes to opponent 3-point attempts at 37.7 per game, which wouldn’t be so bad if not for having the fifth-worst opponent 3-point shooting percentage, allowing opponents to hit 37.2% of their attempts.
That’s not great going against a team like the T-Wolves. With Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo, Minnesota loves to jack up the treys, and today I’m looking at DVD.
DiVincenzo has actually been in a slump this season when it comes to shooting the three-ball. He’s a 37.2% shooter from deep for his career but is hitting just 32.2% of those attempts this season.
But he has improved a bit lately, and a matchup with the Lakers is just what he needs. DiVincenzo has upped that percentage to 34.9 over his last 10 games, including going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc when these teams last met.
DiVincenzo has hit three or more threes in five of his last 10 games, I like him to improve on that with this juicy matchup against the Lakers. The plus money makes firing on this bet all the easier.
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NBA odds today
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