Friday’s NBA slate presents plenty of opportunities for player prop bettors, with matchups featuring key injuries, defensive weaknesses, and strong betting trends. From Nikola Jokic looking to bounce back with another triple-double to Chris Paul’s scoring potential against the Bucks, here are our top NBA player prop picks for January 31.
Nuggets C Nikola Jokic Triple-Double vs. 76ers (-125, DraftKings)
Coming off his worst performance of the season (17 points, six rebounds, six assists) against the Knicks, I’m going right back to Jokic in this matchup against the Sixers, who will be playing without Joel Embiid. The last time he faced Philadelphia (also without Embiid), he dropped 27 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in 30 minutes en route to a blowout win. Overall, Jokic has posted a triple-double in nine of his last 14 starts and missed out by exactly one rebound or assist in three of the five games in which he failed to do so. Averaging 29.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.1 assists this season, I expect the MVP candidate to make a statement in a plus-matchup tonight.
76ers SG Eric Gordon Over 14.5 Points + Assists vs. Nuggets (+110, BetMGM)
The Nuggets have allowed the most points (24.65) and assists (5.76) to opposing shooting guards this season and Gordon has been thrust into Toronto’s starting lineup due to injuries. He’s gone over this number in four straight games (18, 15, 16, 16) and in that span, his 2.3 assists came on 4.8 potential assists while scoring 14, 14, 13 and 15 points in those contests. He’s been able to space the floor within Nick Nurse’s offense and has likely carved himself out a rotational role moving forward, even when his teammates return from their various injuries.
Spurs PG Chris Paul Over 8.5 Points vs. Bucks (-125, BetMGM)
The Bucks have allowed the most points per game (26.42) to opposing point guards and the only time CP3 faced the Bucks this season (121-105 loss on January 8), he scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting (5-of-6 from three). On the season, he’s gone 25-19 to the O/U at this number. It’s hard for me not to love backing the future Hall of Famer at this mark.
Bulls C Nikola Vucevic Over 3.5 Assists vs. Raptors (+112, BetRivers)
Vucevic faces the Raptors, who have allowed an NBA-high 5.33 assists per game to opposing centers. The only time he played this Toronto squad this season, he posted three assists, but had seven potential assists en route to a 122-121 win. Overall, Vuc has gone over this number in five of the last six games overall as well.
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