NBA player props: Best bets for Thursday, February 22 featuring NAME, NAME, NAME

The NBA comes back from the All-Star break on Thursday with a loaded slate of games. We’ve got a few heavy-hitters in the later window with the Los Angeles Clippers taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Los Angeles Lakers go on the road to take on the Golden State Warriors without LeBron James. Though, Anthony Davis is probable to play. Below we’re going to go over some player prop bets to consider on DraftKings Sportsbook for the slate.

Austin Reaves O17.5 points (-125)

The Lakers’ injury report is lengthy. LeBron, Christian Wood, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish. Prior to the All-Star Break in February, Reaves was averaging 20.3 points per game on 51.1% shooting from the floor and 47.6% from distance.

One of the those contests is that memorable Lakers win over the Celtics without LeBron and AD. Reaves dropped 32 points on 7-10 shooting from 3-point range against the NBA’s best record. In that seven-game span to start February, Reaves didn’t play fewer than 31 minutes in any contest. He’s almost locked into 30+ minutes against the Warriors on Thursday night.

The Dubs are in the bottom-third of the NBA in points allowed per game (118.2) and we know Golden State is going to play with pace coming out of the break. If the season ended today, these two teams would be playing in the play-in tournament again. This should be somewhat competitive and Reaves is the go-to scorer on the perimeter.

Luke Doncic O49.5 Pts + Rebs + Asts (-135)

The Dallas Mavericks come off the break with a big matchup vs. the Phoenix Suns. There’s a chance the Suns have SG Bradley Beal back in the lineup from a hamstring injury. If that’s the case, even better for this game and prop. The spread is tight at Mavericks -1.5 at home. The over/under is among the highest on the slate at 244.5 points. Doncic pretty consistently hits this mark and while he did play in the ASG, it was enough of a break to recharge.

You could tell Doncic was kind of limping into the break despite the Mavs on a six-game winning streak. A few performances were in blowouts over the Thunder and Spurs, games where Doncic fell short of hitting this line. The last time Doncic faced the Suns, it was before the deadline and with PG Kyrie Irving sidelined. The Mavs are deeper with PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford, which should only help Doncic. If the book thinks Doncic gets to over 31.5 points, I’ll take my chances hoping he can get a triple-double.

Deni Avdija O15.5 points (-125)

This bet scares me. The Wizards are really, really bad, going into the break on an eight-game losing streak. In four games prior to the break, the Wizards increased Avdija’s minutes to around 39 per game. It’s unclear if that’s sustainable and all four of those games were close. But those four games were against decent competition (NO, DAL, PHI, BOS). Avdija scored 20+ points in each contest. He’s averaging 23 points per game in seven games in February. This is mostly thanks to an insane 61.5% shooting from the floor in that stretch.

It’ll be tough against the defending champion Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets are 15-point favorites at home against Washington. Nikola Jokic is guarding the paint. That’s a lot of points to cover in the NBA. And we know the Wizards were pushing a bit before the break in those tight-ish games. If the Wiz stick with Avdija for 30+ minutes in this contest, he has a good shot at clearing this line.