Griffin Wong previews tonight’s game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Utah Jazz with his favorite player prop bets.
After a dominant win against the Sacramento Kings last night, the Atlanta Hawks are now 6-2 since Trae Young went down with a knee sprain, raising further questions about his value to the organization that traded Luka Dončić for him on draft night in 2018. Widely expected to be pretty good this season largely because of Young, Atlanta is now fifth in the Eastern Conference without him.
The Hawks have a fairly easy matchup tonight against the Utah Jazz, who entered the season widely expected to be one of the NBA’s bottom-feeders. While Utah has vastly over-performed this season, its 4-7 record is still only good enough for 10th in the West, though a 3-2 record at the Delta Center is pretty impressive.
Atlanta is a 2.5-point favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook (-135 on the Moneyline), with the point total set at 233.5. The Jazz are +114 on the Moneyline. Below, I’ll lay out my three favorite prop bets for tonight inter-conference clash.
Zaccharie Risacher 15+ Points (-111)
The 2024 first overall pick hasn’t made quite as many headlines as some other players in his class or the first overall picks before and after him, but he’s done exactly what he was brought in to do: be a dependable three-and-D wing with the occasional firework. He’s really hit his offensive stride as of late, dropping 15 or more points in four of his last five games, including 15 last night in just 22 minutes. His effective field goal percentage (53.7%) is identical to his mark last season, and his shot profile has been similar, but his usage rate across his last six games has been two percentage points higher, and last season, he averaged exactly 15 points per game in his two contests against Utah. He should also have a somewhat bigger role tonight, with Kristaps Porziņġis ruled out for rest.
He should have no problem producing against the Jazz, who have had a miserable start to November after losing their defensive anchor, Walker Kessler, to season-ending shoulder surgery. In the six games since Kessler went down, Utah has allowed the seventh-most points per game and allowed opponents to shoot the ninth-highest percentage from the restricted area and the fourth-highest mark from floater range and Risacher has improved as a paint finisher relative to last season. The Jazz have also conceded the second-most wide-open three-point attempts per game in November, and Risacher has drained such shots at a 39.1% clip this season.
Jusuf Nurkić Double-Double (+126)
Kessler’s injury thrust Nurkić, acquired controversially this summer for Collin Sexton, into the starting lineup after he came off the bench for Mark Williams for most of last season. He hasn’t been good — he’s posted just 36-14-64 shooting splits and Utah has been 9.7 points per 100 possessions better with him on the bench — but with no center depth besides the defensively-limited Kyle Filipowski, he’s had no choice but to play nearly 27 minutes per game as a starter. In his six games, he’s had a pair of double-doubles, including an 11-point, 11-rebound performance on Tuesday night against the Indiana Pacers.
The Hawks have been good defensively since Young’s injury, posting the league’s third-best defensive rating and allowing the lowest percentage at the rim, as well as the sixth-lowest percentage from floater range. In theory, that could be a challenge for Nurkić, who’s attempted 5.3 of his 7.7 shots per game in the paint as a starter, but his career-low accuracy from the paint can be partially attributable to luck. Plus, Atlanta isn’t nearly as imposing at the rim without Porziņġis, who’s held opponents to the second-lowest percentage within six feet of the 40 players who have appeared in at least eight games and guarded at least five such shots per game this season. The Hawks have been also somewhat worse on the glass with the Latvian out. Atlanta also doesn’t draw many fouls, so Nurkić is highly unlikely to find himself in foul trouble.
Keyonte George U5.5 Assists (+112)
George lost his starting point guard spot last season to Isaiah Collier, but early on in the 2025-26 season, he took advantage of Collier’s absence with a hamstring injury and recorded six or more assists in each of seven of the first eight games, in addition to scoring 22.6 points per game. However, now that Collier is back, he’s operated somewhat of a time share with last season’s 29th overall pick, splitting touches and playmaking duties relatively evenly. In Collier’s first game, George managed just two assists, and while he has recorded six or more in each of the last two games, going from 90 touches per game to 67 doesn’t bode well for his long-term role as the team’s primary distributor. As a starter, George also spends more game time with Ace Bailey, an inconsistent rookie who shouldn’t be trusted to convert assists regularly.
George isn’t only competing against Collier for assists, though; the Hawks have also allowed the second-fewest assists per game since Young’s injury, which is probably sustainable given that each of their starters — Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Risacher, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu — are all at least six-foot-five and have at least six-foot-nine wingspans. With tall, long-armed players to impact passing lanes, it’s no surprise that Atlanta ranks seventh in the league in deflections and fourth in steals.
