After the NBA had five great Christmas Day spotlight matchups, the Association is back with a standard but exciting nine games on Friday night’s slate. In one of the 8:00 p.m. ET tipoffs, the young New Orleans Pelicans welcome the Phoenix Suns to the Big Easy. Both teams have had several players post breakout numbers in the early part of the season, so let’s focus in on some fun player prop bets from this matchup on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Overall, the Suns are 5.5-point road favorites, with the game total set at 240.5. The teams will play back-to-back nights in New Orleans on Friday and Saturday, after meeting earlier this season in Phoenix, where the Suns won convincingly, 121-98.
The Suns also won their most recent game on Tuesday against the Lakers to improve to 16-13, but they are just 5-7 in their last 12 games. The Pelicans had won five straight games coming into their Tuesday matchup, but they lost that game to the Cavaliers in Cleveland to drop to 8-23 on the year.
Overall, the Suns have been better this season, but the Pelicans have looked sharper in the last couple of weeks, setting up an interesting mini-series in the next two days. Let’s look at Friday’s contest and find a few strong player prop bets:
Suns vs. Pelicans Best Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Derik Queen over 7.5 rebounds (-115)
The Pelicans have been getting strong contributions from rookie center Derik Queen, who moved into the starting lineup 19 games ago and has regularly contributed strong numbers across the board. Over his last 20 games, Queen has averaged 14.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.2 assists. He has gone over this prop line in 11 of those games with at least seven rebounds in 15 of those 20 contests (75%).
He has thrived both without Zion Williamson and alongside the dynamic forward. Zion is expected to play on Friday, and Queen has posted a double-double in three of his last four games with Zion starting next to him. Queen is a good long-shot play +235 odds to post a double-double in this matchup, but I feel more comfortable with him to get at least eight boards in this prop which is a good value at just about even money.
Collin Gillespie over 15.5 points (-105)
Gillespie has gone barely over this prop line in three straight games with 16 points, but he should have even more room to operate against the Pelicans than he did against the Warriors (twice) and the Lakers. He has gone over this prop line in 10 of his last 15 games (67%) and has started 10 of his last 11 games, all while averaging 16.1 points per game.
On Friday night, the Suns remain without Grayson Allen (knee) for a fourth straight game, which should allow Gillespie to keep getting plenty of opportunities from long range.
The third-year guard is making a leap this season by shooting 43.7% from the field and 41.6% from distance. He’s averaging 13.4 points per game on the season, but I’m comfortable taking the over at 15.5 based on his recent form and this favorable matchup.
Jose Alvarado under 11.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-110)
Alvarado helped the Pelicans by filling in effectively while Jordan Poole was out, but Poole has been upgraded to probable and will likely play on Friday night. In his games with Poole available and rookie Jeremiah Fears playing a large role, Alvarado has been a defensive presence and spark plug off the bench but hasn’t contributed many counting stats.
In his 11 games with Poole active, Alvarado is averaging under 20 minutes per game and producing 5.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists for 10.3 PRA (points, rebounds and assists).
He has been under this total in three straight games and four of his last five games. Alvarado is a fun, high-energy pick to back when he’s getting time, but in his limited role, he’ll likely stay under this PRA line on Friday especially if the game stays close throughout.
Bonus Parlay Pick: Oso Ighodaro over 6.5 Rebounds + Assists (-120)
If you’re looking to use these props to create a Same Game Parlay (SPG) or an SPGx, one other leg you can add to the mix is the over on Ighodaro’s rebounds plus assists. The second-year forward has gone over this prop line in seven of his last 10 games and had at least seven rebounds and assists in five straight games before coming up just one short against the Lakers.
While Mark Williams is expected to play, Ighodaro has been getting more minutes lately even when Williams is available. That trend could continue on Friday, especially since its the front half of a back-to-back.
If you add in this Ighodoro pick to the SGP, it checks in at a juicy +1000:
