The unofficial second half of the NBA season is back in full swing with nine matchups on the board for hungry basketball bettors to dive into.
Luckily, I’m here to serve up some winners with my three favorite plays of the day, which include the Orlando Magic putting a spell on Trae Young, and Karl-Anthony Towns dominating the Chicago Bulls on the glass.
Here are my NBA picks for Thursday, Feb. 20.
Best NBA player props today
Edey 10+ rebounds (+200 at bet365) 
Young Under 27.5 pts (-115 at bet365) 
Towns Over 13.5 rebounds (-115 at bet365)
NBA player props for February 20
Zach Edey 10+ rebounds (+200 at bet365)
It’s been a pretty solid rookie campaign for Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey. The 7-foot-4 Canadian is averaging 9.5 points and 7.6 rebounds in just over 20 minutes a game for a Grizz team that sits in second place in the Western Conference coming out of the All-Star break.
Edey was also busy during the break, winning the Rising Stars Challenge and getting a taste of the real, um, game, on Sunday night. So, Edey is flying high, and I expect him to stay up and clean the glass when Memphis returns to action tonight.
The Grizz open the unofficial second half of their season with a road game at the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers also closed the first half well, going 14-5 in their previous 19 games before the break.
The Pacers are a fun team to watch play basketball with their high-tempo offense led by Tyrese Haliburton. But if there is one area where they could improve, it’s on the boards. Indiana has the third-worst rebounding rate in the NBA and ranks 22nd in opponent rebounds per game.
Like I said, Edey is averaging 7.6 rebounds per game but that is up to 8.7 over his last 10 games and he’s hit double digits five times over that stretch. Plus, this is a matchup of two Top-5 teams in terms of pace, so there should be plenty of extra possessions. Edey’s rebounding prop is at 7.5 but I want to take a shot at his alt rebounds at 10+ for a +200 price tag.
Trae Young Under 27.5 Points (-115 at bet365)
Trae Young probably didn’t want the All-Star break to come. The Atlanta Hawks guard was on fire, putting up 32 points or more in five of his last seven games leading into the break.
So, it’s not a surprise to see hit point total sitting at a lofty 27.5. However, it is a little surprising to see him get that number against the Orlando Magic.
The Magic lead the Hawks in the Southeast Division by just a half-game but it still feels like these teams are not on the same level. Orlando had to deal with several impact injuries in the first half of the season, including to Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.
But even without those two, there was one thing the Magic did well, prevent buckets. Orlando exits the All-Star break ranked third in the NBA in defensive rating while also allowing the fewest made threes per game. This is part of the reason why they’re a problem for the Hawks’ star guard.
Right in the middle of Young’s hot streak, he faced the Magic, who held him to just 19 points on an ugly 6 of 17 shooting from the floor, including 1-for-8 from 3-point range.
Young has always been a streaky shooter, and strong defensive teams have always given him issues. Hell, before this hot streak, Young played below this point total in nine of 11 games. Orlando will put too much pressure on Young again and he’ll stay below this number.
Karl-Anthony Towns Over 13.5 Rebounds (-115 at bet365)
Boy, did the Minnesota Timberwolves ever mess up by trading Karl-Anthony Towns. Bodega KAT is crushing it for the New York Knicks.
Towns earned his fifth All-Star Game appearance by averaging 24.7 points with the second-highest effective field goal percentage of his career. He has also been an absolute monster on the boards hauling down 13.4 rebounds per game and I like him to keep cleaning the glass when the Knicks start up out of the break when they host the Chicago Bulls.
Not surprisingly, the Knicks are big 12-point favorites against the 22-33 Bulls and part of that is because KAT and his teammates should dominate the boards.
Chicago ranks 23rd in the NBA in rebounding rate while allowing the second-most opponent rebounds per game. They play at the third-highest pace in the NBA, meaning KAT should keep vacuuming up the boards tonight.
Town’s rebounding prop is set at 13.5 but our Covers Prop Projections have him at a whopping 16.7 rebounds. He also went for 16 rebounds in the Knicks' most recent meeting against the Bulls back on Jan. 4. I’ll take that value any day.
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NBA odds today
Here are the full NBA odds for all of today’s matchups.
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