The Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets have each experienced some struggles in recent weeks with neither side capturing much in the way of positive momentum. Tonight’s matchup between the sides should provide playoff-caliber hoops in something of a defensive slugfest, and while scoring may come at a premium, there are still plenty of prop bet markets that bring some value.
DraftKings Sportsbook lists Houston as a 4.5-point favorite at home with -205 odds to win on the Moneyline. The game total is set at 220.5 combined points.
Here are the top Raptors vs. Rockets prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for this matchup.
Best Raptors vs. Rockets player prop bets
Alperen Sengun under 8.5 rebounds (+106)
Turkish big man Alperen Sengun earned the second All-Star nod of his career as an injury replacement this season, and it’s a well-deserved one with averages of 20.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists a game. He’s leading the Rockets in the latter two categories and is clearly an impactful player… but he’s also slowed down some recently. Across his 10 games since the All-Star break, Sengun’s numbers sit at 19.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists. In particular, we’re honing in on those rebounding outputs for tonight’s prop bet.
Sengun has played 10 games since the break, but his production on the glass has certainly taken a step back. Over those contests, he’s recorded double-digit rebounds only twice. More importantly, he’s remained under tonight’s line of 8.5 rebounds on seven occasions with a meager two-board game, five outings of six rebounds, and a seven-board appearance as well. He looks gassed out there, which tracks after also seeing his rebounding average fade slightly after the break last season as well. This seems like something of an emerging trend as the 23-year-old has handled a much greater share of responsibilities in each of the last two seasons on a team that now has expectations it didn’t carry over his first few years in the league.
There is admittedly some risk with this under since the Raptors are generally weak on the boards and center Jakob Poeltl is questionable to play due to an illness. However, I still feel comfortable enough to fade Sengun at plus value here.
RJ Barrett over 18.5 points (-123)
Yes, points may be tough to come by tonight in this battle between top defenses. However, someone’s gotta score, and there’s a decent shot that RJ Barrett can continue a hot run of form that’s seen him excel in recent games. He averages 18.6 PPG this season with a 48.7% FG% and 35.6% 3P%, posting the third-most points of any Raptor. He’s also third in shot volume with 13.9 FGA per game as well.
Over his last six games though, Barrett has taken things up a notch. The 25-year-old averages 21.7 PPG over this span and has been incredibly efficient with his shot attempts, hitting at 56.7% overall and 46.7% from beyond the arc. While there were some easier opponents in that span like the Wizards and Mavericks, the latter of whom he dropped 31 points on over the weekend, Barrett also saw success against the Timberwolves, Knicks and Thunder. He’s posted over 18.5 points in five of his last six contests, including four straight.
Yes, the Rockets are excellent defensively and have plenty of wing defenders to throw at Toronto tonight. However, Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram should take up plenty of attention, perhaps creating additional opportunities for Barrett here. With this scorching-hot run of play, I do think he keeps it up tonight.
