3 NBA Player Prop Bets for Wednesday 12/27/23

Player props can be useful in a variety of ways -- from taking advantage of them straight up to measuring a player's potential to produce in daily fantasy basketball on FanDuel. Here, we're going to focus on the former.

Using a wealth of statistical data, including numberFire's daily basketball projections, here are some NBA player prop bets that look appealing via the NBA odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Please note lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published.

NBA Prop Bets

RJ Barrett Over 17.5 Points (-104)

RJ Barrett is averaging 18.4 points per game this season, and tonight's matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder should constitute a performance in which Barrett reaches his points average.

The Thunder give up the 10th-most points to shooting guards. In games where Barrett has faced other teams in the top 10 in this regard, he is averaging 19.3 points.

Overall, the Thunder have a solid defense. They rank sixth in defensive rating and hold their opponents to the 14th-fewest points. However, they play at a fast pace (sixth-highest in NBA), allowing opposing shooting guards to drain the third-most three-point makes (3PM) in the league.

Barrett should be a benefactor of a game that favors three-point attempts (3PA). He scores 27.9% of his points from downtown and is averaging 19.8 points against teams that rank in the top 10 of 3PM allowed to shooting guards.

I'm also interested in Barrett's opportunities from the foul line. OKC cedes the sixth-most free-throw attempts per game and Barrett nets 21.8% of points from here, shooting free throws at a solid 85.0% clip (highest among the New York Knicks' starters).

And for what it's worth, Barrett has played three games in Oklahoma City in his career and scored at least 25 points in each one, averaging 27.7 points at Paycom Center.

De'Anthony Melton Over 13.5 Points (-111)

The big injury news for today is that Joel Embiid (ankle) will sit out his second straight game for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Enter De'Anthony Melton, who shows the most stark scoring improvements on an Embiid-less Sixers team. In four games without Embiid this season, Melton is averaging 17.3 points (15, 21, 17, and 16 points).

Philadelphia will go up against the Orlando Magic in what will be the second game of a back-to-back for the latter. The Magic are rarely an easy matchup -- they tout the league's fourth-best defensive rating and give up the fifth-fewest points per game.

However, in five games this season wherein Orlando has played the second game of a back-to-back, they are giving up an average of 117.0 points, which would be the 10th-most points per game allowed in the NBA.

Embiid's absence and the sloppy defense we could see from Orlando are encouraging, but there are further avenues we can look into when siding with Melton.

Melton scores 19.2% of his points off of the fast break, and the Magic give up the ninth-most fast break points per game.

Across their last six games, Orlando is surrendering the third-most 3PM per game. Melton scores 52.1% of his points from behind the arc and is draining the second-most threes per 36 minutes on Philly (behind only Tyrese Maxey).

Dating back to last season, Melton has scored 15-plus points in six straight Embiid-less games. I think he is primed to continue that streak tonight.

Jusuf Nurkic Over 3.5 Assists (+134)

Jusuf Nurkic is averaging 3.9 assists per game, and a date with the Houston Rockets could make the plus-odds on this prop well worth it.

The Rockets give up the third-most assists per game to centers. Nurkic has played in 11 games against teams that rank in the top 12 of assists allowed to centers -- he is averaging 4.0 assists in that span. With Houston being even more sacrificial than many of those 11 teams, I'm taking this as a great sign.

The 3.0-point spread for this Phoenix Suns-Rockets matchup shows us that we should expect a close game. In contests this season where Nurkic has played at least 18 minutes (he averages 28.5 minutes per game) and the game was decided by 10 or fewer points, he is averaging 4.3 assists.

Nurkic averages 5.0 potential assists and 45.6 passes per game. The only player on Phoenix to record more passes than Nurkic is Devin Booker (52.3 per game).

I'd also check out Jusuf Nurkic Over 13.5 Reb + Ast at -128. The odds on this are more modest, but Houston does allow the ninth-most rebounds to opposing centers, and Nurkic is averaging 15.4 rebounds across his last five games.

Looking for the latest NBA odds? Head over to FanDuel Sportsbook and check out all of the NBA betting options.

Sign up for FanDuel Sportsbook and FanDuel Daily Fantasy today!

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.