The 11-13 Knicks host the 13-11 Hawks in one of 11 games on today’s NBA slate. John Collins and De’Andre Hunter are both out for the Hawks, though Bogdan Bogdanovic is back in the mix after making his season debut earlier this month and playing 22 minutes in each of the team’s last two games. The Knicks are relatively healthy and should have their entire rotation good to go. With a game total of 231 to 231.5 points and the Knicks favored by 2 points, Vegas projects this as high-scoring, competitive matchup. New York’s defense has been exposed by opposing point guards all throughout the season, and Trae Young will look to continue this trend. Make sure to check out the OddsShopper tool for more best NBA player props and best bets.
Best NBA Player Props | December 7
Trae Young O/U 39.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists, To Record a Double-Double
The Knicks limit opponents to only 45.1% from the field (third lowest) and a 52.7% effective field goal percentage (seventh lowest). Nonetheless, New York plays at a fast-ish pace (100.54, 12th fastest) and have the eighth-worst defensive rating (112.9), allowing opposing teams to score an average of 115 points per game (12th most). Furthermore, opponents average 46.3 rebounds and 26.7 assists per game against the Knicks this season, fourth most and fifth most, respectively. Importantly, the Knicks are particularly vulnerable to the point guard position, allowing the second-most rebounds (7.23), third-most assists (9.39), fifth-most points (26.32) and seventh-most 3-pointers (3.08) per game to opposing point guards. In all, this sets up as a great matchup for Trae Young.
Young averages 27.6 points, 9.6 assists (third in the league) and 2.9 (career low) rebounds per game this season. He didn’t have a great game when the teams met in early November (17 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds) but is expected to do much better tonight – Young is currently projected for 29.3 points, 8.8 assists, and 3.1 rebounds. Given the matchup and Young’s production and projections, several of his props are of interest.
Young went over 2.5 rebounds in 13 out of 22 games this season and over his assists (9.5) and combined points/rebounds/assists (39.5) props in 12 games. Given Young’s hit rate of each prop, the over on the latter two have value at current odds (-110 and +115, respectively). While Young is projected to go over his points prop (27.5) alone, taking the over on his combined points/rebounds/assists prop is the preferred bet here. Likewise, while Young is only projected for roughly nine assists tonight, the current odds for him to record a double-double (best odds as of time of writing are +125) present better value than taking the over on his assists prop, particularly when some books have it at -105.
Best NBA Player Prop: Trae Young OVER 39.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-110)
Trae Young Double-Double (+125 DraftKings, 0.5-0.75 Units)
