Our Best Bets for January 20

Bam's been on the boards of late, and with the Heat big man stepping up his production, he's a great bet tonight against the Mavs' weak glass presence. Find out more in our NBA player prop picks.

Some call Divisional Weekend the best NFL action of the season. So, let’s build up your bankroll for those games by picking some winners in the NBA player prop market on Friday night.

CJ McCollum will try to keep carrying the Pelicans by letting the threes fly against the Magic. Then we look at a pair of rebounding props for a couple of guys with big edges on the boards when RJ Barrett takes the floor against the Hawks and Bam Adebayo faces the Mavericks.

Here are my best NBA player prop picks for Friday, January 20.

NBA player props for January 20

Picks made on 1/20/2023 at 1:45 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.

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Today’s best NBA player props

The odds widgets below represent the best odds currently available for each betting market at regulated sportsbooks.

CJ Clue

It’s been a rough go for the New Orleans Pelicans lately. The combination of losing Zion Williamson to an injury and going through one of the toughest stretches of their schedule has resulted in the Pelicans dropping seven of their last 10 games. 

That said, shooting guard CJ McCollum is doing his best to keep his team afloat by shooting the hell out of the basketball. McCollum has been on fire from beyond the arc over that 10-game stretch, hitting a crazy good 48.4% of his 9.5 threes per game and he’ll have a great chance to keep that up against tonight’s opponent, the Orlando Magic.

The Magic have really struggled to defend the perimeter this season and give up a ton of looks from deep. They allow the third most 3-point attempts per game this season and have given up the most made threes per game over their last 10 contests.

McCollum has hit four or more threes seven times during that 10-game stretch. Getting plus money for him to make it eight times in his last 11 games looks like a really solid bet tonight.

CJ McCollum Prop: Over 3.5 made 3-pointers (+110)

Barrett boards

The New York Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks renew their rivalry when the two Eastern Conference foes face off on Friday night. Atlanta comes into this game playing some good basketball winning four straight games and is a slight home favorite against New York. But the Knicks have one big edge in this matchup, and that’s on the glass.

The Knicks are one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA, while the Hawks are one of the worst. New York ranks fourth in the NBA in rebounding rate while Atlanta ranks 28.

There are also a lot of rebounding opportunities in Hawks games. That’s because they take the fourth-most shots per game in the NBA and they don’t exactly hit the majority of them, as the Hawks rank 23 in effective field goal percentage.

Now, when you think of rebounding and the Knicks, you'd tend to think of Julius Randle. And while he’s been a beast on the boards of late, 13.5 is a big rebounding total. So, instead, I’m looking at RJ Barrett.

The Knicks wing has been putting more work on the boards of late. He's upping his rebounding average to 6.6 per game over his last seven games and he’s grabbed seven or more five times in his last seven games.

Barrett also grabbed seven boards in a meeting against the Hawks back on December 7. The Over 6.5 at even money looks like a solid play.

RJ Barrett Prop: Over 6.5 rebounds (+100)

Heat index

We get an intriguing matchup on Friday night when Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks host Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat. The Heat are slight road favorites in this matchup and part of the reason for that is because of their edge on the glass.

The Mavericks play a lot of small-ball lineups and as a result, they rank dead last in the NBA when it comes to rebounding rate and 20th in opponent rebounds per game. That means I am honing in on Bam Adebayo’s rebounding total in this one.

Adebayo is coming off a game where he had just eight rebounds but that was against the Pelicans, but that has not been the norm lately. And the Pels are a solid rebounding team. Prior to that, Adebayo has been averaging 11.6 rebounds over his last 15 games and has hauled down 11 or more boards 11 times over that 15-game stretch.

With his rebounding total set at 10.5 and close to even money I’m backing Adebayo to go Over once again for this matchup. 

Bam Adebayo Prop: Over 10.5 rebounds (+100)