Best NBA prop bets Jan. 5: Back Toronto's RJ Barrett and Jaden Ivey vs. Warriors
It's a busy Friday night in the NBA, with all but two of the league's teams in action.
The pregame narrative: We are targeting three players tonight, including a pair who were just traded for each other: OG Anunoby and RJ Barrett. Rounding out the recommendations is Jaden Ivey.
NBA oddsas of 4:36 p.m. ET 01/05/2024.
NBA prop bets
Best Bet: Anunoby over 4.5 rebounds (-103)
This was a play of mine two days ago and Anunoby delivered with ease, hauling in eight rebounds after getting six in his debut with the New York Knicks.
He only averaged 3.9 per game in 27 contests with the Toronto Raptors before the trade, but that shouldn't overshadow his body of work from previous seasons.
Anunoby averaged 5.0 rebounds or more in four consecutive seasons coming into the year. This was plus money earlier in the day and as long as we keep getting it around that price, I will hammer it every time.
The versatile 6-foot-7 forward is getting heavy run with the Knicks, averaging 34.5 minutes across his two games and that number is secure as long as he doesn't get into foul trouble.
That's another plus working for us ahead of tonight's matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers, who are middle-of-the-pack on the glass in terms of rebounding rate.
Keystat: Anunoby has cleared this number in three of his last four games.
Quick pick
Ivey over 20.5 PRA (-122): The Detroit Pistons are 15th in offensive rating over their past five games, much better than their No. 27 rank on the season.
This is not a good team by any means, but they're coming off a 148-point outburst in an overtime loss and they snapped their 28-game losing skid two games before that. The ingredients are there for another respectable showing tonight.
Detroit will get a dysfunctional Golden State Warriors team that's on a back-to-back and coming off an emotional loss. The Warriors choked away a fourth-quarter lead, losing on a Nikola Jokic buzzer-beater.
Ivey is playing good ball and gets a veteran Warriors team that has been struggling defensively, ranking 22nd in the NBA in defensive rating over their last 10 games.
The 21-year-old Ivey has cleared this line on points alone in three of his last seven games. Over his last eight, since transitioning back to a starting role, Ivey is averaging well above this number at 26.8 PRA.
This is a solid spot to top this modest line, something he's done in eight of his last 12 games.
Barrett over 5.5 rebounds (+133): Similar to Anunoby, Barrett has rebounded well in both games with the Raptors.
He had seven in 33 minutes on Wednesday and a season-high nine in his Toronto debut. Barrett has topped this number in five of his last six and is going to get a good run as the Raptors' starting two-guard.
The 23-year-old has been a steady rebounder (5.3/game career average) and will be up against a Sacramento Kings team that's slightly below average on the glass.
Both teams are top 12 in field goal attempts per game, which should give Barrett opportunities to get to this number again, which he did both times he played the Kings last season.
