After a break last Tuesday for the NBA All-Star break, DraftKings’ King of the Court promotion is back for its regular programming, and with no NFL, MLB, or Olympics action to take any attention away from the hardwood, the prize pool has increased for the remainder of the regular season. Every Tuesday for the rest of the regular season — with the exception of March 3 — will carry a $2 million prize pool.
Here’s how King of the Court works: if users opt into the contest and use their King of the Court token on a player prop bet (minimum $5 wager) with -200 or longer odds, that bet will become an eligible entrant to the contest. Any user who used their token on the player who finishes with the most combined points, rebounds, and assists tonight will receive a share of $2 million in bonus bets to be paid out the next day, proportional to the number of users who used their token on the player.
The bet doesn’t have to hit: for instance, if a user bets on the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Dončić to record 8+ rebounds (+101) and he only snags seven but ends up leading all players in P/R/A, that user will still be paid out their share of the bonus bets. Regardless, hitting on a bet never hurts.
The three players with the highest P/R/A over-unders are Dončić (47.5), the Atlanta Hawks’ Jalen Johnson (43.5), and the Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey (40.5). I’ll break down my favorite prop bets for these three players so you know where to start as you bet on the stars.
Luka Dončić U3.5 Three-Pointers Made (+111)
Betting this would be going against Dončić’s recent form, as he’s made at least four triples in five of his last six games, including each game in which he didn’t get injured. All in all, over his last 19 games, he’s made his triples at a clip north of 40%. But Dončić is a streaky long-range shooter who’s always prone to the occasional off game, and he hasn’t really had one for a month. He’s also a dominant interior force who’s always capable of converting at the rim against excellent three-point defenses.
The Orlando Magic certainly qualify as one of those. This season, the Magic’s opponents have attempted the fewest three-pointers per game and have shot a below-average percentage on the shots they have taken. In particular, Orlando has done an excellent job closing out on opposing shooters, giving up the fewest wide-open threes per game, and Dončić has converted such shots at a 41.6% clip. The Magic allow a lot of floater-range and midrange shots and are also fairly foul-prone, so Dončić should be able to take advantage.
Jalen Johnson 25+ Points (+106)
Johnson thrived in his first career All-Star appearance, combining for 14 points on six-for-nine shooting across Team USA Stars’ tournament win. He then opened up his second half of the season with a 32-point, 10-rebound masterpiece, recorded a triple-double in his next game, then dropped 26 points and 12 rebounds in a surprisingly narrow win over the Brooklyn Nets. In the long term, the fact that Atlanta elevated CJ McCollum to the starting lineup in place of the lower-usage Zaccharie Risacher is a slight cause for concern, but he took 22 shots against Brooklyn, just as he had in each of his prior two games.
Johnson has a great matchup tonight in the Washington Wizards, who have allowed the second-most points per game in basketball this season. The Wizards, who aren’t a great rim-protecting team to begin with, will also be without Alex Sarr and the newly-acquired Anthony Davis, so they might offer even less resistance to Johnson — one of the league’s more prolific slashers — than usual. It’s possible that the Hawks could blow Washington out and relegate him to the bench early, but they haven’t won a game by more than 12 points since January 26.
Tyrese Maxey O40.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-109)
Maxey is coming off of a dominant 39-point, three-rebound, eight-assist effort in the 76ers’ blowout win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night, and though that’s been the only time since the All-Star break that he’s topped 40 P/R/A. He hasn’t been very efficient in his first three games of the second half, putting up only 45-35-86 shooting splits, but I’m more encouraged by the fact that he’s taken at least 23 shots in all three of the games. He could have a slightly lower usage rate tonight with Joel Embiid back, but Embiid’s gravity should help his efficiency.
Plus, he has a great matchup tonight in the Indiana Pacers, who have been one of the league’s worst teams this season and have no incentive to win. Indiana ranks 10th-to-last in defensive rating this season, and it’ll be two of its best defenders in Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam. While Maxey isn’t a great rebounder, he might be more active on the boards than normal against the team that ranks dead last in rebounding percentage. To be fair, he might play fewer minutes if the game is a blowout, but for Philadelphia to win in a lopsided fashion would require Maxey to play well.
How to Play King of the Court
- Opt in to receive your King of the Court token in the Promotions page.
- Bet on an NBA Player Prop bet ($5 minimum wager) on DraftKings Sportsbook and apply your token (Minimum leg odds of -200 apply).
- If the player you wagered on with your token applied was the points, rebounds and assists leader that night, win a share of $2 million in bonus bets paid out the next day.
For more information on this promo, click here!
