I wish you and your families the best this holiday season and hope everything is merry and bright. After an interesting last couple days of sports we are back to our general regular scheduled programming with a nine-game slate. It's been a great season, and I hope we continue that trend tonight. As always, monitor injury news and lineup announcements. The best way to stay sharp regarding NBA player props is by staying on top of the news. The second best way is to shop around at different books. Player props rarely have identical odds across platforms so make sure you're getting the best value. Let's get to it.
Unless specified otherwise, each bet will be a single unit.
Go premium to view top prop bets based on Cover Probability, Expected Value & Star Rating >>
Friday’s Best NBA Player Prop Bets
Last Time: 2-3 | Season: 69-49
Donovan Mitchell Over 32.5 Pts + Ast + Reb (-115 on DraftKings)
I've been backing Donovan Mitchell a lot this year and I'm going right back to the well tonight. Cleveland plays tonight in Denver as a slight favorite with a total of around 236. There's going to be plenty to go around tonight. On the season, Mitchell has averaged over 23 points a game with nearly five boards and assists each night. The Nuggets allow the third-most points a game to opposing shooting guards and are the fifth-fastest-paced team in the league. The Cavs will get additional possessions for what already is a high possession rate with the best offense in the league. Mitchell is due for a bit of a bounce back which is why this line is a bit depressed and is why I'm buying stock now on him having a solid game tonight.
Quentin Grimes Under 18.5 Pts + Ast + Reb (-120 BetMGM)
With Luka out, Quentin Grimes is slotted into the starting spot for Dallas. Obviously, his props are going to receive a big spike but it's gone a bit too high. The Suns have allowed the seventh fewest points to opposing guards this season and will limit the number of possessions with a bottom-seven pace of play. In his last two starts, Grimes got to 19 on the combo prop and struggled in his other outing at Oklahoma City. Of course, the Thunder are a better defense but that first game was without Luka and Kyrie while tonight, a lot of the usage will go through Kyrie. With this game being on the road, this is an over-inflated line and I'm in on the under.
James Harden Over 14.5 Reb + Ast (-105 on DraftKings)
While Harden's scoring props are usually too high for me, his rebounds and assists never seem to follow. The BettingPros Prop Bet Cheat Sheet projects Harden over 16 and I follow The Sheet like the bible. I'd recommend you do the same if you'd like to profit from your sports betting experience. At home, Harden has been a better player this year with facilitating and on the boards. His rebounds have taken a bit of a hit recently but he averages 6.5 rebounds with eight assists a night on the season and Golden State allows a high rebound rate to opposing guards so Harden should see a decent bounce back tonight. At near even odds, it's a great spot to get this prop at.
Whether you're new to sports betting or a betting pro, our How To Bet and Sports Betting Strategy and Advice pages are for you. You can get started with our How To Section - including How to Avoid the 7 Biggest Sports Betting Mistakes - or head to a more advanced strategy - like Thinking Like an Expert Sports Bettor - to learn more.
Ryan Coleman is a featured writer at BettingPros. Follow him on Twitter @ryancoleman_98. For more from Ryan, check out his archive.