Looking to cash in on some exciting NBA action? Thursday’s slate offers enticing player prop opportunities, highlighted by two of the league's brightest stars in favorable matchups. Trae Young faces a Bulls defense that struggles against playmaking point guards, while LaMelo Ball looks to dominate a Wizards team with one of the NBA’s worst Defensive Ratings. Let’s dive into the numbers and break down the best prop bets for December 26.
Hawks PG Trae Young Over 11.5 Assists vs. Bulls (-118, Caesars)
Young has absolutely dominated Chicago as a facilitator over his last five regular season starts against them, racking up 13, 16, 14, 13 and 13 dimes (from most recent to least recent). Not only that, but he recorded 13 and 14 in two of the three contests before that handful of games. The Bulls have allowed the MOST assists per game to opposing point guards (10.69) and this should be a very fast-paced game since Atlanta ranks 2nd in Pace while Chicago ranks 3rd. Young leads the NBA with 12.0 assists and 21.2 potential helpers per contest and has racked up an average of 14.5 dimes on 24.5 potential assists per game against the Bulls this season, the most of any opponent vs. the Bulls this year. Betting over 11.5 assists may seem like a hard pill to swallow, but not when you consider Young’s upside in the best-possible matchup.
Hornets PG LaMelo Ball Over 37.5 Points +Assists vs. Wizards (-118, Caesars)
The Wizards have allowed the most points (27.61) and 8th-most assists (9.56) per game to opposing point guards and the first time Ball faced them this season (12/19), he had one of the oddest box scores of the year: 34 points on 11-of-32 shooting (3-of-18 from three) with 13 assists (19 potential assists) and one turnover in 34 minutes en route to a 123-114 loss. Even in today’s NBA, we don’t see shot volume like that too often and I love him once again in the rematch. Washington allows the most threes per game to opposing point guards as well (Ball’s over/under for threes is 4.5) and the Wizards own the 2nd-worst Defensive Rating in the Association, so he should be able to essentially do whatever he wants on the offensive end (once again). Ball is averaging 30.0 points (4th in NBA) and 7.5 dimes (11th) per contest and is enjoying the best start of his young career. He should smash tonight.
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