There are 14 teams on the hardcourt tonight in the NBA which means there is no shortage of player props for hungry basketball bettors to dig into.
Tonight, ANT stays hot when the T-wolves take on the Pelicans and passing will be key when the Celtics visit the Nuggets in a matchup of the last two NBA Finals winners.
Those and more in my NBA picks for Tuesday, Jan. 7.
Best NBA player props today
Williams double-double (+140 at bet365) 
Edwards o3.5 threes AND 5+ threes (-115, +210 at bet365) 
White o4.5 assists (+125 at bet365)
Picks made on 1-7 at 1:30 p.m. ET.
NBA player props for January 7
Prop bet #1: Mark Williams Double-Double
Buzz City has been anything but buzzing. It’s been downright ugly for the Charlotte Hornets, who have lost 18 of their last 19 games.
If there has been a bright spot lately, it’s been the return of center Mark Williams. The 23-year-old out of Duke missed Charlotte's first 20 games with a foot injury, and it was clear early on in his return that the Hornets were trying to baby him a bit in hopes that he didn’t re-aggravate the injury.
But the reins have been dropped and Williams has been full-go since just before Christmas. The Hornets’ big man is averaging 14.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game over his last six and he’s primed for another big night when the Phoenix Suns come to town.
The Suns are also looking for answers. They managed a 109-99 win over the Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers last night, but it was just their second win in eight games. The slump also prompted the team to move Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic out of the starting lineup.
Part of the move is because the Suns are having trouble defending opposing bigs. Phoenix is ranked 18th in rebounding rate, opposing rebounds per game, and opponent points in the paint per game. And they even got outrebounded by the Sixers, who rank dead last in rebounding rate.
This has me looking at Williams to record a double-double. He has two in his last four games and has missed three more by just a single rebound. With the price sitting at +140, I like backing Williams to make it three in five games tonight.
Prop bet #2: Anthony Edwards Over 3.5 Made Threes AND 5+ made threes
It has been a rough season for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves finished last season with the fourth-best record in the NBA at 56-26 but are just 18-17 to start the season (Maybe trading KAT wasn’t a good idea).
One of the reasons for this slow start is it looks like Anthony Edwards has taken a step back to open the season. ANT was averaging 24.5 points, and while he was shooting the 3-ball well, some felt it was too often and he wasn’t being aggressive enough.
Edwards also told the media he didn’t like being double-teamed. So, what did he do? He shot the ball even more. ANT went off for 53 points against the Pistons last Saturday, which included him going 10-for-15 from 3-point range. He followed that up by putting up 37 in a win over the Clippers last night where he went 6-for-13 from beyond the arc.
Tonight, they face a team that is struggling even more — the New Orleans Pelicans. Yes, CJ McCollum almost single-handedly earned the Pels back-to-back wins over the Wizards. And yes, Zion Williamson is available tonight. But this New Orleans team is awful defensively, particularly on the perimeter.
The Pelicans rank next-to-last in defensive rating while ranking 20th in opponent 3-point attempts per game and 24th in opponent 3-point shooting percentage.
When ANT gets going like this, he’s hard to slow down. His made threes prop is sitting at 3.5, a number he’s gone Over in 23 of his 35 games this season. I’m taking the Over but give me the alt line of 5+ made threes as well at +210.
Prop bet #3: Derrick White Over 4.5 Assists
The last two NBA champions will face off when Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics visit Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
While these are the last two teams to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy, oddsmakers don’t have them on the same level this season. The Celtics are the favorites to defend their title at +225 while the Nuggets are in the fringe contender at +1400.
One of the reasons for that difference is the Nuggets have taken a step back on defense this season. Denver ranks 19th in defensive rating and has been routinely killed by the extra pass.
Denver ranks dead last in the NBA in both opponent assists per game and possession. While the Celtics don’t share the ball a ton, there are some intriguing options when it comes assists props.
The player that stands out the most is Derrick White. The Celtics guard has seen his assists numbers dip recently, but that’s just giving us a good number and price tonight.
White is averaging 4.4 assists per game, but that number was 5.0 over his first 22 games.
He also went over this number in two matchups against the Nuggets last season and it doesn’t hurt that our Covers Prop Projections have him set at 5.2 assists for tonight’s showdown.
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NBA odds today
Here are the full NBA odds for all of today’s matchups.
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