Griffin Wong previews tonight’s game between the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Lakers with his favorite player prop bets.
After missing the first 14 games of the 2025-26 NBA regular season with sciatica, the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James is ready to make history. When the 40-year-old steps on the floor tonight during Los Angeles’ 10:30 p.m. ET clash against the Utah Jazz, it’ll mark the start of his 23rd NBA season, a mark that no player has reached.
James’ return is a welcome sight for an injury-bitten Lakers team that has managed to amass a 10-4 record regardless and is now completely healthy, with Gabe Vincent also listed as questionable after suffering a sprained ankle on October 26.
Los Angeles is a 12.5-point favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook (-675 on the Moneyline), with the point total set at 238.5. The Jazz are +490 on the Moneyline. Below, I’ll lay out my three favorite prop bets for tonight’s contest, starting — of course — with The King.
LeBron James 2+ Points – 1st 3 Minutes (+130)
It’s unclear exactly how many minutes James will play, though he’s virtually guaranteed to be on a minutes restriction, especially since he’s admitted that his body isn’t yet in basketball shape. As a result, I’m not going to touch his full-game prop, although his 15.5-point line is probably fairly realistic if he’s anywhere close to healthy. It would be rational to expect James to come out firing in the first few minutes, though, especially as a fired-up home crowd at Crypto.com Arena will be excited to see him in action. James’ aggressiveness took a step back last season, but he still had a fairly high 22.8% usage rate in the first quarter even after Luka Dončić joined the team.
Utah won’t do much to stop him in the first quarter if he sets his eyes on scoring. While the Jazz have been better than expected this season behind a Keyonte George breakout and a resurgence from Lauri Markkanen, they still rank seventh-to-last in defensive rating, including a 119.5 mark since Walker Kessler was ruled out for the season at the start of November. In particular, Utah has started the game slowly, conceding 122.6 points per 100 possessions in the opening frame. The Jazz have been particularly exploitable in the paint without Kessler, and even at his advanced age and diminished athleticism, James is still an elite finisher. The King went 10-for-20 when guarded by Markkanen last season.
Lauri Markkanen 30+ Points (+160)
The Finnish wing has had some massive games this season, including a 51-point effort against the Phoenix Suns on October 27, and he’s scored 30 or more points in seven of his 13 games overall and each of his last three. Much of it is a product of volume — he ranks 18th in usage rate this season — but he’s been fairly efficient, posting the fourth-best effective field goal percentage of his career. The Jazz need him to be on the court to have any chance; they’ve lost his minutes by 1.7 points per 100 possessions and have been obliterated by 14.8 points per 100 possessions with him on the pine. As a result, he ranks seventh in minutes per game and has found success as the main option in lineups featuring only one or two of Utah’s other starters.
In recent games, he’s left the court midway through the first and third quarters and returns towards the end of the period, finishing out the period as the Jazz’s lone starter, while J.J. Redick has liked to end the first and third quarters with his reserves on the floor as well. That should benefit Markkanen; while the Lakers’ starters have been solid, their bench players have struggled, and opposing offenses have been better with any of Jake LaRavia, Dalton Knecht, Jarred Vanderbilt, or Jaxson Hayes on the floor than with them off. Markkanen should be able to take advantage of an out-of-shape James when he’s on the floor and one of Los Angeles’ horrific bench defenders when he’s off.
Luka Dončić 4+ Three-Pointers Made (-118)
Dončić has averaged a league-high 34.4 points per game this season despite not shooting very well from deep, as he’s cashed long-range shots at just a 32.7% clip. Still, because he’s attempting a career-high 11.0 three-pointers per game and has made four or more in four of his last six games. Perhaps James’ return will cut into Dončić’s usage a little bit, but he’s generally found a way to get his regardless of the personnel around him, and any defensive attention paid to James should free up Dončić to take a few easier looks. He shot 43.5% from downtown on passes from James last season.
Plus, Utah has struggled to guard the perimeter this season, as it has conceded the most made threes per game. In particular, the Jazz have struggled to close out on opposing shooters, conceding 3.5 more wide-open attempts per game than any other team, and while Dončić doesn’t typically get left open for uncontested shots, he’s knocked them down at a 47.4% clip on the opportunities he does get. He also converted at a 45.6% clip on two unguarded attempts per game as a Laker last season.
