Wizards vs. Raptors prop bets: Bet on Porzingis to lead Washington’s offence
The Toronto Raptors are sizeable home favourites today when they host the Washington Wizards.
The pregame narrative: The Wizards will be shorthanded and we’re expecting Kristaps Porzingis to carry the brunt of their offensive load. Meanwhile, Pascal Siakam is worth fading on the glass and tailing from beyond the arc.
NBA odds as of 12:48 p.m. on 03/26/2023.
Wizards vs. Raptors prop bets
Best Bet: Porzingis over 24.5 points (-113)
With both Kyle Kuzma and Bradley Beal sidelined, someone is going to have to fill the bucket for the Wizards and we figure that will be Porzingis.
The big Latvian has cleared this mark in two of his past three games and is shooting an impressive 60.0% from the field in that span. Porzingis played the Raptors twice this month and cleared this total once while falling just shy of it in his other appearance (22 points).
He shot a combined 17-of-26 in those games and will likely be taking far more shots tonight.
The efficiency Porzingis produced against Toronto was no fluke. Washington’s power forward takes 48% of his shots from the midrange (shots from four-plus feet to the 3-point line), which ranks in the 95th percentile of all NBA players, according to Cleaning the Glass.
That also happens to be the area of the court that the Raptors can’t defend well.
Toronto has allowed opponents to shoot 45.0% from the midrange this season, which is the seventh-worst mark in the NBA.
Key stat: Porzingis is averaging 26.0 points in his past three games.
Quick picks
Siakam under 7.5 rebounds (-124): Siakam has cleared this mark in four of his past five games and is averaging 10.2 boards in that span. So why are we fading him tonight? Well, the Wizards are an extremely strong team on the glass.
Washington ranks sixth in opponent rebounds per game (49.6), and that hasn’t changed with Beal and Kuzma sidelined. The Wizards have conceded an average of just 47.3 rebounds per game over their past three.
Washington also holds power forwards to the third-fewest rebounds per game, according to FantasyPros. Siakam is averaging exactly 7.5 rebounds in his two games against the Wizards this season.
Siakam over 1.5 threes (+120): Siakam isn’t exactly Steph Curry from beyond the arc, but he’s certainly not shy about attempting some long balls.
Toronto’s power forward was 2-of-6 from deep against the Detroit Pistons on Friday, marking the second time in his past five games that he’s cleared this prop. He’s averaging 4.8 3-point attempts in that span.
Those aren’t overwhelming numbers, but the Wizards allow opponents to shoot 36.6% from deep, which is the 11th-worst mark in the NBA.
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