As the clock turns to 2025, the Philadelphia 76ers will hope to start the new year on the same hot form in which they have ended 2024. After a brutal first quarter of the season, Philadelphia has finally gotten healthy, with 2022-23 MVP Joel Embiid finally in the lineup and back to form. The 76ers have won nine of their last 12 games and currently sit 11th in the Eastern Conference with a 12-17 record overall.
Point guard Tyrese Maxey, the 2023-24 Most Improved Player, has been the best and most consistent player on Philadelphia’s roster. He has been relatively healthy, playing in 23 of the 76ers’ 29 games and averaging 26.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. After a miserable shooting slump to start the season, he has shot 38.4% from three in his past 15 games.
The 76ers will travel to the Rose City tonight to face the Portland Trail Blazers at 10 p.m. ET in their final game of 2024.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Philadelphia is a 6.5-point favorite and the point total is set to 221.5. Below, I’ve highlighted my favorite prop bet centered around Maxey.
Best Tyrese Maxey Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Tyrese Maxey O37.5 Points + Assists + Rebounds (-125)
In Year Two of a lengthy rebuilding process after the departure of Damian Lillard, Portland has struggled at pretty much all aspects of basketball, but its defense has been particularly lackluster. The Trail Blazers have allowed 117.1 points per 100 possessions, the fourth-highest rate in the league, and it’s not helped by the fact that its offense plays at a faster-than-league-average pace. Overall, Portland allows the eighth-most points (117.1), seventh-most rebounds (45.0), and eighth-most assists (27.9) per game to opposing players.
That’s good news for Maxey, who has arguably taken the mantle from Embiid as the 76ers’ most important player as the Cameroonian center works himself back into game shape. Maxey has scored at least 20 points in each of his last eight games, including at least 30 in three straight. He also recorded his first career triple-double on December 8, a 25-point, 11-rebound, 14-assist masterpiece that helped Philadelphia to a 108-100 victory over the Chicago Bulls. He nearly recorded another one in the 76ers’ December 23 win over the Spurs, dropping 32 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists, although Embiid was ejected in the second quarter of that game.
I like Maxey’s potential even more given the Trail Blazers’ defensive profile. The best defenders in Portland’s regular rotation are all centers, veterans Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III and rookie Donovan Clingan. Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers’ top three guards are 181-pound Anfernee Simons, 200-pound Shaedon Sharpe, and 202-pound Scoot Henderson, and all rank among the worst defenders among regular rotation pieces. With so many exploitable matchups in Portland’s backcourt, expect Nick Nurse to lean more heavily on Maxey than Embiid.
Tyrese Maxey 3+ Steals (+160)
The Trail Blazers have also been bad at protecting the ball, coughing it up on 16.2% of possessions, the sixth-highest rate in basketball. Henderson is particularly egregious, averaging 2.6 turnovers per game in just over 25 minutes of playing time.
Meanwhile, although he still has the occasional lapse, Maxey is having by far the best defensive season of his career, averaging 2.0 steals per game, behind only Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels and the Pelicans’ Dejounte Murray, and he has recorded at least one steal in every game this season. In his last 15 games, his average has ticked up to 2.4 steals per game, and he has notched three or more steals in three of his past six games.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook, lines and odds subject to change.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skills and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
