The NBA brings a full Saturday night of action, and the spotlight matchup on NBA TV is the Phoenix Suns rolling into Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Knicks. Each team has a star point guard with a questionable tag who missed games earlier this week. Jalen Brunson (ankle) and Devin Booker (ankle) could both return for the marquee matchup, but neither is a certainty, so we’ll have to consider the implications if they are in or out. Let’s take a closer look at the matchup and pinpoint a few strong player prop bets to target. These player prop picks are strong options to add to your Saturday night betting card as you settle in for what should be a great matchup between the Suns and Knicks.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Knicks are narrow 2.5-point home favorites in the bigger picture, with the point total set at 226.5.
The Knicks are coming home after dropping three of four games on their West Coast trip, including a loss to the Suns last Friday, 112-107. The Knicks lost to the Kings and Warriors on Wednesday and Thursday and are 25-16 coming into this rematch with the Suns, who are 24-17 after losing to the Heat and Pistons to start their six-game road trip, which continues on Saturday. The Suns are currently No. 7 in the top-heavy Western Conference while the Knicks are third in the East.
Let’s break down this matchup on Saturday night, highlighting my top player prop bets to consider.
Knicks vs. Sun Best Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Devin Booker over 6.5 assists (-112)
Booker was able to go through shootaround on Saturday morning, which is often an indication that a player has a good chance of returning to action. Coach Jordan Ott also said he was hopeful that Booker would be able to return for Saturday’s game. Booker’s injury never looked all that serious since he was able to finish the game in which it occurred and played 40 minutes in that contest.
Overall, Booker has been pretty durable this season, playing 37 of the team’s 41 games. He’s averaging 25.2 points, 6.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 0.9 steals in 37 games.
Of all his props, Booker’s assists are my favorite play of the night since the over/under is set right at his season average of 6.5. Booker has been dishing out more dimes lately, though, with at least eight assists in four straight games. Against the Knicks, he had eight assists to go with 31 points last Friday.
If he does get back on the floor, he could choose to defer a little to ease his way back into the mix, making the over on his assists a strong place to start this Saturday.
Karl-Anthony Towns under 23.5 Points + Assists (-108)
Whether Brunson returns or not, KAT has a high likelihood of staying under this number of points plus assists. He had an impressive 20 rebounds against the Warriors on Thursday, but we’re going to leave his prolific rebounding out of the equation with this combo prop, instead only counting points and assists.
KAT has finished under this prop line in seven of his last nine games, including on Thursday against Golden State. Even though he had so many rebounds, he only had 19 points plus assists. He finished under this prop line in all four of his games on the Knicks’ recent road trip but did go just over it against the Clippers (27) and the Sixers (25) in his last two home games.
Against the Suns in this same matchup last week, Towns had 15 points and five assists. While he always has the potential to go off, this doesn’t seem to be a great spot for him, and his prop line seems a little inflated due to Brunson’s uncertainty.
Royce O’Neale over 4.5 rebounds (-115)
O’Neale is averaging 5.1 rebounds per game this season, and he had six rebounds against the Knicks last week. He only had four rebounds against the Heat on Tuesday when he sustained a biceps contusion, but he bounced back with seven rebounds on Thursday against the Pistons.
In his last eight games, O’Neale has gone over this prop line seven times, as well as in nine of his last 11. If Booker returns, it could take time and usage away from some of the options on the wings, but O’Neale’s rugged “three-and-D” focus should keep him on the floor long enough to make this one of the strongest player prop bets of the night.
Bonus Parlay Pick: OG Anunoby over 24.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-113)
With Brunson out on Thursday, OG had 25 points going over this PRA (points, rebounds and assists) line without even any rebounds or assists figured in. He’s averaging 23.9 PRA per game on the season but has been more productive lately, going over this prop line in seven of his last 11 games overall and averaging 25.5 PRA per game over that span despite an ugly eight-PRA performance in one of his misses. This feels like a gift if Brunson is out, but even if Brunson is in, I like OG’s potential to go over this PRA line.
If you’re looking to use these props to create a Same Game Parlay (SGP) or as part of an SGPx, adding in the over on Anunoby’s PRA takes the SGP to an even +1000, as you can see below.
