In the latest tip-off on Sunday’s NBA scoreboard, the Lakers host the Pelicans in a Western Conference matchup. Both teams will be short-handed due to busy schedules. The Pelicans won’t have Jordan Hawkins, Herbert Jones, Trey Murphy III, Jordan Poole or Zion Williamson as they finish their back-to-back. The Lakers will be without LeBron James as they start their back-to-back, which finishes Monday with a game against the Suns. Let’s take a look at the players who will be available and find some strong options from the many available player prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Overall in the game, the Lakers are 15.5-point home favorites, with the game total set at O/U 231.5 points.
The Lakers have won six straight to improve to 14-4 on the year, while the Pelicans have only won half that many games all season, struggling to go just 3-17 in their 20 games this season. The two teams met on Nov. 14, and the Lakers won by 14 points in the Big Easy.
Let’s take a look at the player prop bets available for Sunday night’s rematch and find a few places that make sense to play on Sunday.
Lakers vs. Pelicans Best Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Saddiq Bey 18+ points (-109)
The Pelicans have been dealing with injuries all year, and when they’ve needed scoring, Bey has been able to step up and deliver. He’s only averaging 12.8 points in his 19 games overall this season, but the 26-year-old veteran has scored at least 18 points in four straight games, averaging 19.3 points on 14.5 field-goal attempts per game over that span.
On Saturday, he had 21 points against the Warriors, and he has expanded his offensive game to work in the post to go with his solid jump-shooting.
Without Williamson, Murphy and Poole, he’ll have plenty of usage available against the Lakers, and he should have a good chance to get to at least 18 points in this contest as he tries to provide some veteran presence for the very young Pelicans.
Austin Reaves 26+ points (-110)
Without LeBron, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will work together to carry the Lakers, and Reaves has been especially hot recently. He is averaging 28.5 points per game on the season, so picking him to get to 26 points is a fairly conservative play, especially with more work coming his way in LeBron’s absence.
Reaves had 31 points in the first meeting between these teams a couple of weeks ago, and he has at least 26 points in four of his last six games.
On Friday, Reaves made 12 of his 15 field-goal attempts, including six three-pointers, on his way to 38 points.
Reaves seems to be in a favorable spot to stay hot, and his odds haven’t been too inflated by LeBron being ruled out, so I’ll take him to get at least 26 points in this matchup. If you want to be more aggressive, Reaves to get 30+ points at +189 is also a solid play to consider.
Jeremiah Fears over 6.5 Assists + Rebounds (-104)
While the Pelicans have been losing lots of games, they do have some exciting rookies that have been fun to watch this season, making them a much better NBA League Pass team than many fans realize.
First-round picks Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen have both been exciting to see develop while playing in the starting five. Fears has started the last 18 of his 20 games this season, averaging 15.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists. With so many of their teammates missing, the props for both rookies have been inflated a little bit.
One place I’m confident that Fears can still deliver is in his non-scoring contributions with rebounds and assists. In his 20 games, he’s averaging 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists, for 6.1 rebounds and assists.
In his first matchup against the Lakers, Fears had four rebounds and three assists for seven assists and rebounds, going over this prop line. He has at least seven assists and rebounds in four of his last five games, and with more responsibility on Sunday night, I think he’ll be able to get at least seven rebounds and assists once again in this matchup.
