Today’s NBA Player Prop Picks: Maxey Makes Most of Minutes

It’s an interesting night of NBA action with just two games on the board but both should be exciting and full of great player prop betting options.

The Nets and 76ers face off for the first time since their blockbuster trade before two MVP candidates battle when Steph Curry and the Warriors visit Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.

Check out our NBA player prop picks for Thursday, March 10, as we bank on some of the NBA's best to do their thing.

NBA player props for March 10

• Maxey Over 17.5 pts
• Irving Over 24.5 pts
• Looney Over 8.5 rebs

Picks made on 3/10/2022 at 1:10 p.m. ET.
The odds widgets below represent the best odds currently available for each betting market at regulated sportsbooks.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.

Today’s best NBA player props

Maxey-mum overdrive

Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Joel Embiid, and James Harden are obviously the big names in this “Trade Game” showdown. But it’s a support player who has benefited from that trade who is featured in one of my favorite props for this matchup: 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey. 

Many were wondering if the acquisition of Harden would hurt Maxey’s production. But in fact, the opposite has happened. Harden has opened things up for the second-year Sixers guard. 

Maxey has gone from averaging 17.6 points on 48.2% shooting — including 42.3% from 3-point range — to 23.5 points on 59.5% shooting and a ridiculous 61.3% from beyond the arc. Obviously, those shooting numbers will be hard to keep up, but Maxey will keep getting open looks with teams so concerned with Harden and Embiid.

Maxey’s point total has hit the board at 17.5 for this matchup against the Nets. He’s landed on precisely 17 in each of his last two games but put up at least 21 in the first four games with Harden in the fold. And while the Nets’ defensive numbers are solid, they rank 20th in the NBA when it comes to points allowed to opposing guards.

With Harden likely to get the bulk of the attention from the Nets’ backcourt defenders, Maxey will be in a position to once again go Over his point total in this one.

Pick: Tyrese Maxey Over 17.5 Points (-115)

Kyrie takes his shots

Let’s go from a Sixers guard to one of his Brooklyn opponents in Kyrie Irving. The Nets point guard is coming off one of the best games of his career, putting up 50 points on just 19 shots. That’s insanity. And you know he’s going to want to carry that momentum over and make a statement in this one.

Rumors were swirling that he and Harden clashed when it came to offensive philosophy and that Harden was concerned about what Irving’s availability was going to be in the postseason. So, Irving should be motivated to show Harden he made the wrong choice in wanting out of Brooklyn.

It probably doesn’t hurt that Irving has been playing very well beyond that 50-point performance. Irving is averaging 32.3 points while shooting 49.6% from the floor over his last six games, eclipsing this point total in five of those instances. And he’s done that against some good defensive teams to boot, like the Nuggets, Heat, and Bucks.

We’re betting the big games for Irving continue in this one.

Pick: Kyrie Irving Over 24.5 points (-115)

Looney tuned

The Kevon Looney rebounding prop train has certainly slowed down of late but I’m willing to jump aboard one more time in tonight’s game against the Nuggets.

Looney has put in more work on the boards ever since Draymond Green went down with a back injury back in early January. Over those 29 games, Looney is averaging 9.3 rebounds per game. But there is quite a split in those numbers. In the first 15 games, he was pulling down 10.9 boards. However, over the last 14, that’s down to 7.4.

That said, the matchup with the Nuggets (and the plus money) is what you should like here. Denver obviously has one of the best rebounders in the NBA in Nikola Jokic. The Joker plays a ton of minutes and the Warriors will have to combat that if they want to compete on the glass.

And that means more minutes for Looney because the Warriors just don’t have a lot of big man depth behind him at the moment. Looney has also pulled down 11 and nine rebounds in two previous games against the Nuggets during this stretch.

Pick: Kevon Looney Over 8.5 rebounds (+105)

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