The end of the season is near; just six weeks of games remain, with the final regular-season games scheduled to be played on Sunday, April 12. We are firmly in the stretch run now, with every team resolved to either tank or start building towards the playoffs.
There’s only a small slate of games today, but it’s headlined by a potential Finals preview, as the East’s No. 1-seeded Detroit Pistons host the No. 2-seeded San Antonio Spurs. Later, the Sacramento Kings will take on the Memphis Grizzlies and the Utah Jazz will face the Houston Rockets.
Despite the limited offerings, there are still plenty of prop bets available at DraftKings Sportsbook. Below, I’ll detail my three favorites — one from each game.
Top NBA prop bet picks
Victor Wembanyama Most Rebounds (+122)
This game isn’t just a possible Finals preview; it’s a battle between two of the league’s best big men. Detroit’s Jalen Duren is coming off of a masterpiece on Saturday in his first game back after the All-Star break, as he recorded a 26-point, 13-rebound double-double. Wembanyama was strong in his most recent game, too, scoring 28 points and snagging 15 boards, and both teams enjoyed comfortable victories. For the season, Wembanyama averages 11.2 rebounds per game and Duren averages 10.5.
Even though the Pistons have been marginally better on the glass as a team, snagging 52.3% of all available rebounds while the Spurs have grabbed just 51.6%, Wembanyama is the best individual rebounder on the court. Despite averaging 2.8 more rebound chances per game than Wembanyama, Duren has snagged just 53.1% of his chances, and Wembanyama is all the way up at 66.0%, the third-highest among players to play at least 40 games and average at least 10 rebound chances per game. He should have more rebound chances than usual because Detroit loves to get downhill, forcing Wembanyama to drop back and protect the rim.
Ty Jerome 20+ Points (+103)
Jerome has taken just seven games to demonstrate that the three-year, $27.7 million contract that he signed with the Grizzlies in the offseason could bear fruit. He missed the first three months of the season while dealing with a severe calf strain that he suffered in preseason, but in his seven games, he’s averaged 19.3 points per game on 51-40-86 shooting splits despite playing just 20.6 minutes per game. He should continue to have a large role given that Memphis has completely deconstructed its roster.
Speaking of deconstructed rosters, the Kings have completely gutted theirs, shutting down Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and the newly-acquired De’Andre Hunter for the season. They’ve lost 16 straight games, posting the league’s worst defensive rating by 3.1 points per 100 possessions across that span, so Jerome shouldn’t have any trouble scoring. There’s a chance that he might not play his typical minutes load because the scoreline could be lopsided, but if any team fails to blow out this tanking Sacramento side, it’ll be the Grizzlies.
Alperen Şengün to Record a Double-Double (-124)
Drama has surrounded the Rockets as of late, as Kevin Durant supposedly used a fake Twitter account to criticize his teammates, including Şengün. It’s hard to tell whether any controversy has impacted the team’s performance on the court, but with just a 12-8 record over its last 20 games, Houston has not performed like a championship contender, and Şengün — who has averaged 18.6 points and 9.5 rebounds per game on just a 48.1% effective field goal percentage — has not played like an All-Star. But he’s still a talented offensive hub whose combination of points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks is surpassed by no other player, and he’s in desperate need of a get-right game.
The Jazz could be just that team to provide it to him. Utah has been horrific defensively this season, posting the league’s worst defensive rating, and it has allowed the league’s second-highest field goal percentage within the restricted area, where Şengün has taken nearly 40% of his shots. To be fair, the Jazz have been a good rebounding team for much of the season, but they’ve had the equivalent of the league’s worst rebounding percentage without Jusuf Nurkić, who’s out with a facial injury. Utah has also allowed the most assists per game, and Şengün has also had four double-digit assist games.
