Today’s NBA Player Prop Picks: Mobley Mutes Jazz

There are nine NBA games on the schedule tonight, which means there is no shortage of betting value to be found in the player prop market.

Today, we highlight a couple of big men who could be in for big nights. Can Joel Embiid top 30 points for an eighth consecutive game? And can rookie Evan Mobley take advantage of the Jazz, who will once again be without Rudy Gobert?

Check out our NBA player prop picks for Wednesday, January 12, as we bank on some of the NBA's best to do their thing.

NBA player props for January 12

• Joel Embiid Over 30.5 Points (-120)
• RJ Barrett Over 17.5 Points (-120)
• Evan Mobley Over 16.5 Points (+100)

Picks made on 1/12/2022 at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.

Today’s best NBA player props

Need for Embiid

Joel Embiid is a man on a mission. The Philadelphia 76ers big man has been an absolute force in leading his team to seven consecutive victories. Embiid will try to make it eight in a row when they host the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.

Embiid has poured more than 30 points in each of the Sixers' last seven victories. He's averaging 32.9 points on 56.2% shooting which includes 42.1% from 3-point range, and he’ll be a handful for the Hornets in this one.

The Hornets have created a buzz with their offense this season, but the defense still has plenty of work to do to catch up. Charlotte ranks 28th in defensive rating and 24th in opponent field goal percentage. The Hornets have also struggled on the inside, where they rank 19th in opponent points in the paint.

Not to mention, Embiid has been a problem for Buzz City in two matchups this season. In back-to-back games in Charlotte back in mid-December, Embiid went off for 43 and 32 points respectively against the Hornets. He was extremely efficient in those games, hitting 62.2 percent of his attempts.

The Hornets are playing well right now, coming off consecutive victories over the Bucks, but they are a smaller unit and don’t have a ton of depth. Embiid will impose his will as the game wears on and top 30 points yet again.

Pick: Joel Embiid Over 30.5 Points (-120 at DraftKings)

Grin and Barrett

This season has not gone the way the New York Knicks would have hopped at this point, sitting in 10th in the Eastern Conference standings. But RJ Barrett has taken it upon himself to break the Knicks out of their funk.

Barrett is averaging 23.3 points on 46.4 percent shooting over the Knicks' last six games, and Barrett's taking more shots than ever before. Barrett has taken 20 or more shots four times in that six-game stretch. Something he did just four times in his first 28 games.

Tonight, Barrett gets a tough matchup against a strong defensive team in the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs rank sixth in the NBA in defensive rating and come into this one with some rhythm, having won six in a row.

But that matchup has knocked Barret’s point total down to a reasonable 17.5, a number he has gone Over five times in that six-game stretch. In fact, he has scored fewer than 19 just once over that span. We’re betting Barrett keeps jacking up shots for the Knicks in this one.

Pick: RJ Barrett Over 17.5 Points (-120 at DraftKings)

No stifling

The Cleveland Cavaliers twin towers of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley are becoming a handful for any opponent. But the duo will appear even more opposing to the Utah Jazz who will once again be without their All-Defense center Rudy Gobert.

The three-time Defensive Player of the Year is still in health and safety protocols and will miss his fifth consecutive game. And to say Gobert’s presence has been missed by the Jazz is an understatement. 

With Gobert on the floor, this is obviously one of the best defensive units in the NBA, but without, well, look away Jazz fans. Over the last four games, the Jazz rank dead last in the NBA in defensive rating and have allowed 120.5 points per game. That could mean a big night for the Cavs big men, but tonight we home in on the rookie, whose point total sits at 16.5.

Mobley has been in a groove since returning from his own stint in the health and safety protocols, averaging 18.3 points per game while shooting 57.1 from the field over his last games, while topping 17 or more points six times over that stretch.

Hassan Whiteside (who isn’t a great on-ball defender, to begin with) can’t guard both Allen and Mobley in this one, but it has been the rookie who has had the better scoring touch of late and has the lower point total of the two. 

Pick: Evan Mobley Over 16.5 Points (+100 at DraftKings)

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