There are eight games of action across today’s Sunday NBA slate. The first action will tip off at 3:30 p.m. ET in a matchup between the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans. Four games tip off at 6:00 p.m. ET and build throughout the night to conclude with a 9:30 matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat.
There are plenty of ways to get involved in the action across DraftKings Sportsbook. This article will look at my three favorite NBA prop bets across today’s slate.
Kelly Oubre Jr. Over 1.5 Made Three-Pointers (-101)
The Philadelphia 76ers are off to a red-hot 4-1 start to the season and will take on the young Brooklyn Nets tonight. They will be doing so without Joel Embiid, who continues to scale up his on-court role with his lingering knee issues. Philadelphia has not missed a beat without him thus far, with its young guard unit being one of the bigger storylines of the young NBA season. But Kelly Oubre Jr. has been the unsung hero that has quietly been playing some of the best basketball of his career.
Through his first five games, Oubre Jr. is averaging 17.6 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting a career-best 44.4% on three-point attempts and launching 5.4 perimeter shots. Even more notable, Oubre Jr. is playing 39.0 minutes per game, which ranks third in the entire league. The only players ahead of him are his teammates Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe. Philadelphia is a bit thin at the wing and forward position and Oubre Jr. has made the most of his opportunities to cement a significant role.
The Nets enter with an 0-5 record and rank 29th in opponent points allowed at 127.8 points per game and are dead last in opponent three-point percentage allowed at 44.7%. Oubre Jr. has attempted at least three three-pointers in every game and is coming off a season-high seven perimeter shots in the previous matchup. Expect the Sixers to continue having success with Maxey and Edgecombe attacking the basket and finding Oubre Jr. on the outside to connect on perimeter shots. He has knocked down at least two three-pointers in all five games so far this season, so expect him to build off this in the friendliest defensive matchup the Sixers have faced to this point.
Julian Champagnie Over 1.5 Made Three-Pointers (-117)
Another three-point prop that stands out on the slate is for Julian Champagnie to connect on over 1.5 made three-pointers as the Spurs face the Suns. San Antonio has been can’t-miss TV to start the year with Victor Wembanyama taking a superstar leap and looking to have the pieces around him for the team to follow. Champagnie is a part of this effort and has found his niche within this roster. His defensive ability will continue giving him the opportunities on the court and he is playing a career-high 29.4 minutes per game while averaging 7.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
One area where Champagnie has been lacking so far this season is in his three-point efficiency. Through his first five games he is shooting just 30.0% from beyond the three-point arc on 4.0 attempts per game. Champagnie is a career 37.0% three-point shooter and has shot as well as 40.2% over a season. He shot a career-high 5.9 perimeter attempts per game last year and connected at a 37.1% rate in San Antonio.
San Antonio will face a 2-4 Phoenix Suns squad that could already be trending toward disaster. They rank 23rd in opponent points allowed and 24th in opponent three-point percentage so far this season. Champagnie has made at least one three-pointer in each of his past three games and provides a nice complement to San Antonio’s young guards. Expect Wembanyama’s gravity and Dylan Harper’s ability to attack the paint to open up perimeter shots for Champagnie and for him to deliver in this friendly defensive matchup. I am buying this being a low point of his three-point efficiency and for positive regression to be coming. This is a great matchup to start this and look for Champagnie to knock down over 1.5 made three-pointers for the second time this season.
Luka Doncic Over 17.5 Assists & Rebounds (-107)
The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a 4-2 start to the season with the stellar play of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves as the primary reason why. Doncic missed three games already due to finger and lower body injuries, but he has looked like an MVP candidate when he has been on the floor. Through the three games he has played, the five-time All-Star is averaging 45.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and. 7.7 assists per game.
Doncic and the Lakers will face off with a Miami Heat team tonight that is off to a 3-2 start to the season. The lack of frontcourt depth on the Los Angeles roster will continue to force Doncic to be a major contributor in the rebounding category. He has pulled in 12, 10 and 11 rebounds in the three games he has played. The Lakers are also a bit lacking in offensive creators outside of Doncic and Reaves. Expect the Heat to be completely aware of this and attempt to force others to beat them. They rotate effectively and are not afraid to blitz, trap or throw unique defensive looks at opponents. Count on Doncic to see plenty of these looks and need to counter by leaning on his abilities as a playmaker.
Even without this gamescript in mind, Doncic is averaging 19.4 combined assists and rebounds and has tallied over 17.5 combined in all three games. This is the matchup I am least bullish on Doncic’s scoring outlook so far this season and expect him to make up for this in other statistical categories. The 26-year-old looks to be in the best shape of his career and will be ready to continue with his superhuman-like production. I don’t hate taking a swing on Doncic to record his first triple-double of the season at +351 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook, but for the sake of the article I am locking in over 17.5 combined assists and rebonds.
