Zion Williamson betting recap Friday vs. Nuggets

If you had a lot invested in Zion Williamson’s NBA debut on Wednesday, I must ask, are you OK? That sweat must have been something fierce given how poor Williamson looked through three quarters. Of course, he’d come on to score 17 straight points, hit the O/U for his points total, hit the OVER for his rebound prop of 5.5 and the total points, assists and rebounds total at 20.5. All in one flick of the wrist from 3-point range, well, four flicks and a few layups.

So now we move onto Zion’s second game, Friday night against the Denver Nuggets. Williamson should be under a minutes limit of about 16-18 again tonight. Here, we’ll go over all the player props available on DraftKings Sportsbook for Zion vs. Denver.

Zion Williamson fantasy basketball, player prop recap vs. Nuggets

Fantasy basketball stats: 15 points, six rebounds, one steal, one block — 26 FPTS
Player Prop Record: 2-4

Williamson’s second regular season game wasn’t as exciting as his first, but he managed to hit two of his prop bets in the 21 minutes he played. The rookie phenom tallied 15 points and six rebounds and hit the overs on both. However, he fell short of hitting the over on four other prop bets, which were probably a little ambitious given his condition and minute restriction.

Third quarter update: It’s the end of the third quarter and Zion is up to 15 points, so we’ve hit the OVER on the points total. He also has five rebounds, so we’re one away from a hit there. Zion won’t be leading this game in scoring, with Nikola Jokic at 25 points after three. He’s got a chance at that last combined prop, so we’ll see what happens.

Second quarter update: Williamson continued to score effortlessly in the second quarter by pouring in five more points on 2-of-3 shooting, bringing his points total to 9. He also made a little ground on the rebounding front by grabbing two boards. Williamson has yet to notch a single assist though. He’s likely to hit his over on points (13.5) and it shouldn’t be too hard for hit on rebounds as well. Recording a double-double and becoming the top point scorer are achievable, should he keep trending upward.

First quarter update: Williamson was perfect from the field in the first frame but didn’t contribute anything other than points. He converted both of his shot attempts to total four points and did not record a rebound or assist. The Pels are playing him in short spurts again, but there’s still a chance he’ll erupt at some point in the game like he did in his debut against the Spurs. It’s safe to say hitting the over for rebounds (5.5) is still in the realm of possibility, which means a double-double could still happen as well. He’ll have to pick it up across the board in the next three quarters though.

Updated Zion Williamson player props Friday vs. Nuggets

Point Total: Over 13.5 (-162)
To Score First FG: +500
Rebound Total: Over 5.5 (-148)
To Record a Double-Double: Yes (+400), No (-560)
Top Point Scorer: +1000
Points, Rebounds, Assists Total: Over 22.5 (-120)

Update, 7:40 p.m. — There hasn’t been a ton of movement, but the line on Zion to be the top point scorer jumped quite a bit from +1600 to +1000. Mostly the lines moved and not the actually totals, so nothing crazy there. We’ll keep an eye on these throughout the night.

So as you can see, not too much different from Zion’s debut. His point total is a bit lower, which I think makes sense given the matchup against a better defensive team that plays at a slower pace. With what we know about the minutes limit and the first three quarters of the debut, I’d lean against the OVER for that total. I just don’t see a massive outburst happening again, though I do think we’ll see a more consistent Zion, so double-digit points isn’t out of the realm of possibility of course.

The rebound prop is the same as before and I like that the most of all of these. I don’t think Williamson will sniff a double-double, as he wasn’t very active on the boards for most of the game, especially early on. Top point scorer isn’t feasible either, though there aren’t many threats on the Nuggets side other than Will Barton and Nikola Jokic. Brandon Ingram and Jrue Holiday should outscore Zion easily, though.

The total points, assists and rebounds of 22.5 would mean Zion needs to hit his OVER for points, rebounds and then get at least four assists, which I don’t see happening. Williamson made some nice passes, but was mostly passive early on in his debut. He floated on the court a lot and needs to be more involved, which definitely could happen tonight. Overall, I’m not putting too much stock into the fourth quarter and I think we’ll see a more consistent, but less productive Zion tonight.

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