3 Best NBA Player Prop Bets for Friday 12/20/24

The beauty of the NBA is you will never be short on prop-betting options for a given slate.

From points to steals and three-pointers, FanDuel Sportsbook's NBA odds are overflowing with possibilities. We're here to help you sift through it all.

Using FanDuel Research's daily NBA projections as a guide, here are some NBA player prop bets that look appealing on FanDuel.

Please note: lines and projections are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published. All NBA odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook.

Today's Best NBA Player Prop Picks

Darius Garland Under 26.5 Points + Assists (-125)

A lot of top-tier defenses by points per game allowed are in action on tonight's three-game slate. That doesn't necessarily mean just targeting all unders or anything, but in the case of Darius Garland's points plus assists prop, I think it does.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are hosting the Milwaukee Bucks as big favorites, and while Milwaukee has had its struggles, the Bucks are 12th in points per game allowed and 8th in assists per game allowed.

Part of that has to do with a league-average pace, representing a slight downgrade for the Cavs in the tempo department.

Garland has averaged 26.8 points and assists per game combined this season while going over 26.5 in half of his games.

He's now in a subpar matchup for points and helpers. He has gotten the better of the Bucks so far -- with 25.0 points and 9.0 assists per game in two meetings prior -- but has shot extremely well in that two-game sample, including a 50.0% three-point percentage.

But he actually had two very different meetings against the Bucks in early November. He first had 11 points and 10 assists against them for 21 PA -- and then 39 points and 8 assists the next time out.

Jimmy Butler Over 5.5 Rebounds (-115)

Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat are in the late game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, which tips off at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

While the Thunder are first in the NBA in points per game allowed (103.3), they are letting up 47.7 boards per game, second-most in the league.

Also, Butler is coming off of a 19-rebound showing, a career-high.

Butler is now averaging 6.1 rebounds per game -- but has had at least 6 rebounds in just 42.1% of his games to date.

However, he's actually only played three games against teams in the bottom 10 in rebounds per game allowed. He's averaging 7.0 boards and has had single-game outputs of 8, 4, and 9 in that sample.

Expanding the sample to below-average rebounding teams, Butler has gone over 5.5 boards in 4 of 6 games.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Over 5.5 Assists (-122)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in action on the other side of that game.

The Heat are letting up only 109.7 points per game to opponents (6th) but are allowing 27.0 assists per game (20th). So far this year, 57.7% of two-point makes against the Heat have come off of assists, the fourth-highest rate in the NBA.

Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 6.2 assists per game this year while having poor assist regression luck. Based on how the Thunder convert potential assists, SGA should be averaging 7.2 helpers per contest. He'd be at 7.1 per game at the league-average rate.

numberFire is projecting Gilgeous-Alexander for 6.9 assists tonight.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.