There are seven games of NBA action taking place across today’s Sunday slate.
The Philadelphia 76ers will open the action against the Chicago Bulls, with tipoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. The Los Angeles Lakers will face the Detroit Pistons at 6:00 p.m. ET, before the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves meet an hour later. At 7:30 p.m. ET, the Dallas Mavericks will host the Brooklyn Nets, before the Boston Celtics take on the Milwaukee Bucks at 8:00 p.m. ET. Tonight’s slate will conclude with a double-header of games tipping off at 9:00 p.m. ET, as the Miami Heat face the Sacramento Kings while the New Orleans Pelicans play the Los Angeles Clippers.
There are plenty of ways to get involved on DraftKings Sportsbook. Here are my top three player prop bets for Sunday’s NBA slate.
Best NBA Prop Bets Today
Jayson Tatum Over 6.5 Assists (-127)
The Boston Celtics made it clear that Jayson Tatum is their franchise face by moving on from Jaylen Brown this past offseason. After returning from his Achilles tear and appearing in 16 regular-season games and the Celtics’ first six playoff games, Tatum had an additional offseason to get back to himself physically. The results have been clear, and the production has followed. Through his opening eight games, the six-time All-Star is posting averages of 27.9 points, 8.0 assists, and 6.3 rebounds per game. Tatum has recorded over 6.5 assists in seven of the eight games and has tallied as many as 11 in a matchup.
This is a great opportunity to build off this as the Celtics face off with a poor Milwaukee Bucks team today. The youthful squad enters the matchup with a 1-8 record and ranks 27th in opponents’ points allowed, 28th in defensive rating, 28th in opponents’ field goal attempts, and 25th in opponents’ three-point attempts allowed this season. These teams faced off once already this season, with Tatum being given his first rest day of the season. Even without him on the floor, the Celtics cruised to a 109-102 victory, during which they led for 93% of the matchup.
Tatum will play in this rematch after sitting out the first meeting. Boston has a defined offensive system built upon Tatum creating with the ball in his hands and kicking to three-point shooters on the perimeter. The Celtics rank seventh in the league in three-point attempts and sixth in three-point percentage, and will face a Bucks defense that ranks in the bottom 13 in each of these categories. Brown produced a career-high in assists last year while serving as the focal point of the offense, and Tatum is in line to do the same with more natural playmaking instincts in his skill set. Expect the recent stretch of production to continue, and for Tatum to record over 6.5 assists for the eighth time in his opening nine matchups against this vulnerable defensive opponent.
Zach LaVine Over 20.5 Points (-118)
The outlook is getting bleak for the Sacramento Kings at a rapid rate. They have slipped to 1-8 to start the season, which is tied with the Bucks and Jazz for the worst record in the NBA. But there have been some encouraging offensive flashes, most notably from the Sacramento backcourt. Zach LaVine has done his part, scoring 22.1 points per game through the opening nine games played. He has tallied over 20.5 points in seven of his nine games played and recorded as many as 37 points in a matchup.
While the Heat have much higher aspirations for the season, it has been a work in progress for Miami. They enter with a 3-6 record and have put forth some concerning defensive metrics to this point. The Heat enter this matchup ranking 28th in opponents’ points per game at 122.6 on average. They also rank 26th in defensive rating, 29th in opponents’ field goal percentage, 29th in opponents’ three-point percentage, and 28th in opponents’ three-point attempts allowed.
LaVine does plenty of his damage from beyond the three-point arc, and this is a favorable area for him to attack. So far this year, the two-time All-Star is averaging 7.4 perimeter attempts and connecting at a 35.8% rate. This also leaves something to be desired, as the 31-year-old is a career 39.0% perimeter shooter. Even if it is in a losing effort, expect LaVine to show no hesitancy in letting it fly and for plenty of shot volume against the struggling Heat defense. Count on him recording over 20.5 points for the eighth time this season as Miami continues to struggle on the defensive side of the ball.
Jeremiah Fears Over 18.5 Points & Assists (-104)
Helping to close down tonight’s NBA slate, the New Orleans Pelicans will be facing off with the Los Angeles Clippers. Both of these teams are currently out of the postseason picture in the Western Conference and at a bit of a crossroads as a franchise. The Pelicans still have some win-now talents on the roster, such as Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, and Trey Murphy III. But they also have an encouraging next generation of young talents, with Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen headlining this effort. As the outlook for this season continues to slip away, expect more of a focus on future development to grow as the priority, and this is occurring at a more rapid rate than the organization likely hoped.
Fears has played 29 or more minutes in each of his last five games, averaging approximately 33.8 minutes per game across this stretch and coming off 36:14 of playing time in his previous game. He is posting averages of 14.8 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.6 rebounds on the season, as well as 19.4 points, 6.8 assists, and 5.6 rebounds across his past five. Fears has tallied over 18.5 combined points and assists in five consecutive games entering this matchup.
Expect this to continue against a vulnerable Los Angeles defense. The Clippers enter the matchup ranking 22nd in opponents’ points allowed, 21st in defensive rating, 28th in opponents’ field goal percentage, 19th in opponents’ three-point percentage, and 17th in opponents’ assists allowed. New Orleans continues to lean on Fears at a greater rate, and he is proving capable of scaling up his role. Count on this continuing today in the favorable defensive matchup, and for 18.5 combined points and assists to be far too low a bar for the sixth straight game.
