Gross Bombs: NFL Props for Week 16
Josh Gross
The NBA has six games on the schedule for Tuesday, but only one that everyone is talking about. LeBron James is only 35 points away from tying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record, so the spotlight is shining brightly on that game. One of our three NBA best bets for the day happens to be from that game. I bet you can guess who we wrote up below.
Best NBA Points Prop Bets
LeBron James Over 32.5 Points
Normally I do a deep dive into defensive points allowed and averages and minutes and field goal attempts, but this bet is a Narrative Street one. It’s not a “his grandmother will be at the game on his birthday” narrative, it is a “he’s 36 points away from breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record” narrative, and that is worth discussing. LeBron James is averaging 30 per game already on the season, so this is not asking him to do much more.
Royce O’Neale Over 9.5 Points
Royce O’Neale is not a scorer, but with Kevin Durant out, Kyrie Irving traded and a lack of other options, he is a scorer now. He’s hit double-digits in four of the last five, including both of the recent games played with pretty much the same personnel expected. Many other books have this at 10.5, so I’ll gladly take the lower number for a guy stepping into a field goal vortex that needs people to claim some of these newly freed-up shots.
Best NBA Rebound Prop Bet
Julius Randle Over 11.5 Rebounds
Julius Randle has been cleaning the glass at a high level since Mitchell Robinson went down. Randle has not dropped below 9 rebounds in a game since Christmas. He’s double-doubled in all but three games since and he had 9 rebounds in all of them. He’s averaged over 13 rebounds per game during this stretch and had 12 rebounds the last time they met the Magic.
