The NBA has six games on the slate on Friday night, and in the NBA TV spotlight matchup, the Atlanta Hawks roll into the Toyota Center to take on the Houston Rockets at 8:00 p.m. ET. Both teams are in playoff positions and looking to finish their season strong. It should be a great atmosphere for this non-conference matchup, so let’s highlight a few juicy player prop bets to consider adding to your betting card.
In the bigger picture, the Rockets are slight 3.5-point home favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, with a game total of 227.5 points.
The Rockets dropped two games earlier this week to the Lakers and are currently 41-27, sitting as the No. 5 seed in the West. The Hawks have been red-hot lately and have won 11 straight games to climb to 38-31, which is currently strong enough to hold the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. Can they keep it rolling against the Rockets and extend Houston’s problems? We’ll find out on Friday night!
Of note on the injury report, Jonathan Kuminga is out for Atlanta, but the rest of the rotations should be at full strength for this big showdown.
Hawks at Rockets Best Prop Bets
Amen Thompson o18.5 Points (-118)
While Kevin Durant has had a couple of down games this week, Amen Thompson has helped pick up the scoring load. Thompson battled left quadricep tendonitis and had lower usage for part of February, but he has remained very efficient all season, and typically plays a very large workload in competitive games like this one is expected to be.
Thompson has gone over this prop line in eight of his last 10 games, including six of his last seven. He had 19 points on Monday and 26 points on Wednesday in the two losses to the Lakers.
Over his last 10 games, Thompson has averaged a whopping 38.1 minutes per game while attempting 14.4 field goals. He has averaged 21.6 points per game over that span, and he should be able to clear this prop line on Friday in what should be a close game against the Hawks.
Onyeka Okongwu o12.5 Points (-111)
A points prop I like on the other side of this matchup is for Hawks big man Onyeka Okongwu, who will be matched up against Alperen Sengun and his former teammate Clint Capela in the frontcourt. Okongwu is averaging 15.8 points per game this season, so this prop seems a little low based on his past production.
Okongwu did not play in the first matchup this season against Houston, but he has been back and playing big minutes since the All-Star break. In his last 12 games, he’s averaged 29.4 minutes per game and scored 14.4 points per game.
He came up just short of this prop line on Wednesday against the Mavericks, scoring 12 points in 30 minutes. He has at least that many points in four of his last five games, and he has gone over this prop line in five of his last eight. The Rockets have been a midrange matchup for centers, but in such a competitive game, Okongwu should be able to get over this prop line on Friday night.
Tari Eason u10.5 Points (-115)
Eason has had a slow start to the month of March, coming in under this prop line in 12 straight games. He had 10 points on Wednesday, but he continued to be mired in a shooting slump. In his nine games in March, he’s averaging only 6.7 points while going only 1-for-28 from long range.
Eason is still getting plenty of minutes, but he has not scored more than 11 points since February 11. With Durant, Sengun and Thompson all getting most of the work, Eason isn’t getting a ton of usage, and when he is, he’s not shooting the ball very well.
The Rockets may need to adjust their rotation before the playoffs if Eason doesn’t snap out of his shooting slump. Until he gets going, though, it makes sense to keep playing his under.
Bonus Parlay Pick: Nickeil Alexander-Walker o21.5 Points + Rebounds (-121)
If you’re building an SGP (Same Game Parlay) from this Friday night matchup, one option to boost the odds even higher is by backing NAW to go over this combined points and rebounds prop line. Adding the fourth player prop into the mix boosts the SGP all the way up to +950 for these four Lakers-Rockets bets.
Alexander-Walker has been excellent all season for Atlanta, averaging 20.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He has gone over this prop in six of his last seven games, including each of his last three games. He went off for 41 points on Monday and followed that up with 22 points on Wednesday, going over this prop without even the help of any rebounds. Adding in his boards do make this a slightly safer option, though, which is why I like adding it to sweeten the GPP.
