Today’s Best NBA Player Props for 12-22: Gunning For Rebounds

It’s a quiet Sunday schedule in the NBA with just three games coming up, but some serious inconsistencies make for some tempting player props.

I’ll be watching for Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets to do some damage to the weak New Orleans Pelicans, while I also noticed a couple of rebounding pros from Alperen Sengun and Domantas Sabonis.

Read on for my top three NBA picks for Sunday, December 22nd.

The best NBA player props today

The selection will take place on December 22nd. at 11:45 a.m. ET.

NBA player props for December 22nd

Prop Bet #1: Nikola Jokic Over 38.5 points and assists

-116 at bet365

Despite the Denver Nuggets’ slow start to the season, Nikola Jokic has done everything in his power to run the offense, ranking second in both points (31) and assists (9.8) per game this season in the NBA.

Jokic and the Nuggets should be looking forward to an early Christmas present tonight when they take on the struggling New Orleans Pelicans, who have lost 15 of their last 16 games.

The three-time MVP is in the midst of his highest-scoring month of the season, averaging 33.6 points per game in December. His assist numbers have taken a slight dip, but are still a solid 8.4 per game.

Jokic is averaging nearly 41 points plus assists per game this year and has averaged over 38.5 in six of his last eight contests.

The Pelicans are allowing 116.7 points per game, the seventh-worst mark in the NBA, so both Jokic and his teammates should have plenty of opportunity to improve the scoring.

Prop Bet #2: Alperen Sengun 13+ rebounds

+175 at bet365

Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun has emerged as one of the NBA’s best rebounders in his fourth season, grabbing 10.6 boards per game – good for ninth in the league.

The Rockets big man could be in line for another big game on the glass against a Toronto Raptors team that will be without Jakob Poeltl for the second straight game, leaving Sengun with a major imbalance at the center position to exploit.

Poeltl leads the Raptors with 11 rebounds per game and accounts for nearly a quarter of the team’s total boards, and Toronto significantly missed its starting center on Thursday in its 101-94 loss to Brooklyn while being outrebounded 53-34.

The Raptors have actually been one of the better rebounding teams in the NBA this year with 55.5 boards per game (5th), but have seen their average drop to just 49 per game in the last three contests, with Poeltl either suspended or played with less than 100%.

Sengun has grabbed at least 13 rebounds six times this season and I think he can reach that mark again against this young and undersized Raptors team.

Prop Bet #3: Domantas Sabonis Over 13.5 rebounds

-132 at bet365

If I stick with another rebound prop, I’m hoping Domantas Sabonis continues his dominance on the glass. The Sacramento Kings center ranks second in the NBA with 13.3 boards per game and should be able to reach the over tonight against an Indiana Pacers team that has been brutal in rebounding.

Indiana ranks second to last in the league in rebounds per game (40.1), with its top two rebounders, Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner, both averaging just seven per game.

The Pacers were particularly poor on offense with just 8.4 rebounds per game (29th), and this is where Sabonis does most of the work, grabbing 9.9 defensive rebounds per game.

The Kings big man is coming off a 19-rebound performance against the Lakers and is averaging 14 rebounds per game in his last 10 games. Sabonis has grabbed at least 14 rebounds in four of his last six contests.

NBA odds today

Here are the complete NBA odds for all of today’s matchups.

Pages on this topic