ZT details his best player prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for tonight’s game between the Knicks and the Mavericks.
Wednesday night’s ESPN doubleheader starts with a juicy matchup between the Cavaliers and the Rockets and then heads to Dallas, where the Knicks roll into town to face the Mavericks. With stars on both sides, the game has plenty of good options to consider for player prop bets, so let’s jump in and take a look at a few that stand out as my favorites.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Knicks are 7.5-point road favorites, with the game total set at O/U 230.5 points. The Knicks split a home-and-home set with the Heat, losing on Monday without Jalen Brunson to drop to 8-5. The Mavericks, though, have been struggling even more, dropping eight of their last 10 games to fall to 4-11. They did get an overtime win on Sunday against Portland, but struggled the following night in Minnesota.
Even though the Mavs have struggled, this should be a fun matchup with players to cheer for (or against) on both sides, so let’s highlight some player prop bets that make sense from Wednesday’s contest.
Mavericks vs. Knicks Best Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Jalen Brunson 40+ Points + Rebounds + Assists (+158)
Brunson is officially questionable with an ankle injury after missing two games with a sprained ankle suffered in last Wednesday’s loss to the Magic. He was able to go through shootaround on Wednesday and looks ready to take the floor. The question is more whether he’ll be able to carry his full workload. That uncertainty is what boosts this to such favorable odds.
Brunson delivered 40+ PRA (points, rebounds and assists) in three of his last four games before his injury and was averaging 28.0 points, 6.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 38.1 PRA through his first 11 games of the season.
The Knicks’ star point guard has only played three games against the Mavs in his career since that’s where he started his career. Last year he played two games in Dallas, producing 40 PRA and 47 PRA in those two games, one in January and one last November.
With the extra motivation of playing his former team and fresh legs, Brunson has the potential to go off for a huge game. If you want a safer play, the over 35.5 PRA at -124 is more conservative and wouldn’t need as much effort for him in his first game back. With the added element of it being a revenge spot, though, I think he’ll be extra aggressive and have a big game to help the Knicks beat up his former squad.
Max Christie Over 11.5 Points (-122)
The Mavs were already going to be very shorthanded and Cooper Flagg (illness) was added to the injury report this morning as well. He wasn’t seen at shootaround, and even if he does play, he could take it easy, letting other players pick up more scoring load, like Max Christie. Christie has been regularly involved for the Mavs, starting the last 12 games in a row and playing over 30 minutes per game. He averaged 12.2 points per game during that stretch, and he had at least 12 points in eight of his last nine games before playing just 19 minutes on Monday on the second night of a back-to-back and finishing with just one point and one field-goal attempt.
After playing limited minutes in that blowout, I expect a bounce-back performance from him in this matchup with the Knicks. I like this point line at these odds with Flagg available and love it at these odds if Flagg is out or limited.
D’Angelo Russell under 1.5 3PM (-121)
Russell has also been getting plenty of minutes for the Mavs, but he hasn’t been hitting many three-pointers, so I like the under on this prop. In his 15 games this season, he has been under this 3PM total in 12 of his 15 games this season (80%), including each of his last seven straight. In those seven games, he’s just 3-for-30 (10%) from long range.
He could get more work if Flagg is out or limited, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll automatically be draining threes. Even when he poured in 28 points in 39 minutes last Friday, he did it while going 0-for-6 from long range. He is getting enough opportunities that he could flip the switch at any point and have a monster game, but I like these odds for it not happening on Wednesday against the Knicks.
