The NBA has some fun afternoon matchups on the scoreboard to close out 2025, and in one of the afternoon contests, the Phoenix Suns roll into Forest City to face the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET, and each team has a few interesting storylines and players to consider for today’s player prop bets available from DraftKings SportsBook. Let’s jump into the inter-conference matchup and pick a few top options that make sense from the matinee matchup in The Land.
In the bigger picture of the matchup, the Cavs are 6.5-point home favorites, while the game total is set at 234.5.
The Cavs improved to 18-16 on the season by knocking off the Spurs in San Antonio on Monday to compete their road trip that started with a bad loss in New York on Christmas Day. They will be playing at home for the first time since just over a week ago. The Suns have also been on the road lately, and have started their trip 3-0 by beating up on the Pelicans and Wizards. They’ve won four straight and are 19-13, even though they’re the underdogs in this contest.
This will be the first matchup between these teams this season, with the second scheduled for Friday, Jan. 30. In this matchup, check out these three player props that I think have a good chance of delivering some green to wrap up the year.
Suns vs. Cavaliers Best Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Darius Garland 8+ Assists (+133)
The over/under for Garland’s assists is 6.5, with the over at -134, which is probably the safer play here, but I just couldn’t pass on this plus-money prop for Garland to hand out at least eight helpers.
He’s averaging 6.9 assists per game this season, but he has dished out at least eight dimes in five of his last six games, with the once exception being against the Rockets, when he was limited to 24 minutes while battling an illness.
He bounced back from that game with 15 points and 11 assists on Monday against the Spurs, and he’s definitely fitting in more seamlessly now as the team’s primary creator after his delayed start to the season due to injury.
If this is a close game as expected and Garland plays his typical minutes, I think he has a great chance to deliver at least eight assists.
Devin Booker over 30.5 Points + Assists (-121)
Booker has been the heart of the Suns offense all season, and he has carried most of the work with Kevin Durant traded and the primary returning piece, Jalen Green (hamstring) out most of the season. Booker has a 29.5% usage rate, which puts him right around James Harden, Anthony Edwards, and Nikola Jokic territory.
For the season, he’s averaging 25.2 points and 6.4 assists per game, coming in over this prop line at 31.6 points and assists per contest. He has been under this prop line in each of his last two games, but was over it in four of five games prior to that.
He also went over this prop line in four of his last five games in Cleveland, with the one exception being last season, when he had just 15 points and four assists. Since he has more scoring responsibilities again this season, he should be ready to duel it out with Garland and Donovan Mitchell, and I think he’ll end up with more than 31 points and assists in this matchup.
Sam Merrill over 9.5 points (-107)
I backed Merrill on Monday against the Spurs but he came up short, partly due to a blow to the face that caused him to miss time in the first half. He finished with only five points, but he went over this prop line in each of his three previous games after sitting out for over a month with a hand sprain.
Merrill is averaging 13.1 points per game on the season, and he has scored at least 10 points in seven of his last 10 games and in 13 of his 17 games this season.
Merrill is probable due to hip soreness, but he should be able to chip in at least 10 points either in the starting lineup or in the second unit in this matchup on Wednesday afternoon.
