It’s been a cathartic season for you fellow James Harden basketball enjoyers. Harden has turned back the clock in this season and has pushed the Clippers to a 14-11 record and the 6th seed in the Western Conference. Harden’s usage, slowly dwindling away every season for the last four seasons, has popped back up to 30.3%, a mark he hasn’t hit since his last season as a Houston Rocket. He may not exactly be the Harden of old, but clearly, he’s still got it.
He’s currently averaging a robust 21.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 8.5 APG. He’s shooting poorly (38% FG) but racking up the defensive stats with 1.6 SPG and 0.7 BPG, with those steals being the highest since his last season in Houston. I anticipate Harden’s shooting bouncing back a bit once Kawhi Leonard returns to the fold and alleviates some of the defensive pressure off Harden. The Clippers are facing off against the Denver Nuggets tonight in a big matchup as both teams jockey for a higher seed in a tough conference. He’ll need to fuel his team’s offense to make it past the Nuggets’ juggernaut, Nikola Jokic.
Here are some of the best James Harden prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for Tuesday’s matchup:
Best James Harden Prop Bets
Points 21.5 (Over -110 / Under -125): Sitting almost exactly at Harden’s season average, it’ll be tough to predict Harden’s scoring output tonight. Denver is 15th in the league in defensive rating. They don’t have many players who can bother Harden on the perimeter outside of Christian Braun, but will have Aaron Gordon who is tough to get past in the post.
Harden’s coming off a disappointing five point effort in a 28 point blowout versus the Timberwolves in his last game, and could be in line for a nice bounce-back game tonight. Prior to last game, he had been averaging 31.25 PPG in his previous four, and was starting to heat up. Despite his strong, but streaky, recent form, I’m comfortable going under on Harden’s points tonight as I expect him to facilitate more than he will attack himself due to the Nuggets’ poor interior defense.
Assists 8.5 (Over -110 / Under -120): I’m going Over here, as I anticipate this is where Harden will do most of his damage. The Nuggets rank 4th in most conceded points in the paint, and 11th in most assists given up to opponent teams. Neither of these factors bode well for the Nuggets’ outlook in clamping up Harden’s seasoned ability to manipulate the pick and roll with Ivica Zubac, who’s been enjoying a career year operating with Harden in the two-man game.
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