While there’s no more Monday Night Football until next season, the NBA has some strong basketball matchups on the board this week. That includes a fun Western Conference matchup at the Toyota Center, where the Houston Rockets welcome the Memphis Grizzlies. Let’s take a look at both sides of this matchup and break down a few solid player prop bets to consider for this matchup. You can utilize these picks as stand-alone plays or group them in a Same Game Parlay (SGP), as indicated at the bottom of the post.
In the overall matchup, the Rockets are heavily favored at home with a 10.5-point spread and the point total at 224.5.
The Grizzlies won’t have Ja Morant or Jock Landale for this matchup, and could be without Santi Aldama as well. Aldama was ruled out for Sunday’s game before it was postponed due to weather, eliminating the back-to-back for the Grizzlies. Before Sunday’s postponement, the Grizz were 2-5 over their last seven games and lost to the Hawks and Pelicans since returning from their two-game trip overseas. On the other side, the Rockets have been rolling with four wins in their last five games after knocking off the Pistons in Detroit on Friday of last week.
The Rockets beat the Grizzlies in Memphis 124-109 earlier this season and are currently the No. 4 seed in the West, while the Grizzlies are two games behind the Clippers for the final spot in the Play-In Tournament, currently sitting at No. 11. Let’s take a closer look at this rematch on Monday and pinpoint a few player prop bets to target in this contest.
Rockets vs. Grizzlies Best Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Cam Spencer 25+ Points + Rebounds + Assists (+118)
The big risk in this matchup is that it turns into a blowout and players get less than their typical workloads. One way to minimize that risk, though, is to go with players from the Grizzlies who will have to play a large workload even in that scenario. Spencer will have to help carry the load for as long as Morant is out, and the second-year guard from UConn has stepped up when called upon recently. In his 21 games without Morant this season, he’s producing 13.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 7.0 assists for 23.4 PRA. He’s been better than that lately though, which is why I’m comfortable playing him at this alternate PRA line to get plus-money odds.
On Friday against the Pelicans, he had 21 points, 11 assists and five rebounds to go well over this prop line and post 37 PRA. He went over this prop line with at least 25 PRA in four of his last eight games and in each of his last three starts. The Rockets are a tough defensive matchup for Spencer and the Grizzlies, but he should have enough of a workload to deliver on this prop line after getting the weekend off.
Reed Sheppard over 12.5 points (-104)
Sheppard has had a much bigger role in his second season in the NBA, and the No. 3 pick from the 2024 NBA Draft has shown a lot of upside, scoring 13.1 points per game while mostly coming off the bench. In four of his last five games, Sheppard has gone over this point total, and he’s gotten a ton of shot attempts in his last three games with 17, 14 and 15 field goal attempts while scoring 21, 14 and 18 points.
If he keeps getting so many opportunities, Sheppard should be able to clear this 12-point prop line again on Monday. Even in lopsided games, he usually gets good playing time, and he has shown enough lately to still be a strong option even with Aaron Holiday potentially returning in the second unit.
Cedric Coward over 19.5 Points + Rebounds (-122)
Since the Grizzlies will be searching for scoring, Coward should be more involved in the game flow. He could play a lot more minutes as a bigger option with Landale unavailable and Jaren Jackson Jr. potentially moving to center. The rookie has shown a lot of potential in his 40 games, averaging 14 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest. He has at least 20 combined points and rebounds in five of his last seven contests. He had only 16 on Friday against the Pelicans since JJJ and Landale did most of the work, but he should slide into a more involved role with Landale out of the mix.
In his 19 games without Ja Morant, Coward is averaging 13.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and in his two games without Aldama, he’s averaged 15 points and five rebounds. Regardless of the game situation, Coward should get all the minutes he can handle against Houston, and I think he’ll be able to get over this points and rebounds total despite the tough matchup since he’ll be carrying so much of the workload.
Bonus Parlay Pick: Alperen Sengun under 5.5 assists (+117)
If you’re building an SGP (Same Game Parlay) for this Monday night matchup, adding in the under on Sengun’s assists boosts it all the way to +1400 odds as you can see below. If you want to mix in picks from other games, you can also build a strong SGPx with these core plays.
Sengun has averaged 6.4 assists per game on the season. However, he has been under this number on a more regular basis lately, potentially since he has to play more center without Steven Adams in the lineup. He has come in under this prop line in four of his last six games and six of his last nine. If the Rockets do open up a big lead, they may rely less heavily on him as well. Fewer minutes would likely mean under 5.5 assists once again.
