It has been a turbulent five days since the Lakers beat the Pacers in the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament championship. The league will look to return to relative normalcy this evening, with a tidy seven-game slate scheduled between 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. ET. Today we will head to BetMGM to find four high-value player props we think will boost our bankrolls heading into the weekend.
The headlines this week have been dominated by Draymond Green and the fallout from his most recent debacle, a spinning strike to Suns center Jusuf Nurkic's face that put the big man on the floor and landed Dray with an indefinite suspension. As if that negative PR wasn't enough for Adam Silver, the Bucks and Pacers got into physical altercations during and after their first meeting since Indy upset Milwaukee in the IST.
We don't take any days off here at SN Bets, so we've set our sights on some BetMGM player props that will hopefully boost our bankroll just in time for a Christmas-shopping bonanza. We've hit on five of our four-prop parlays over the past five weeks, and hit at least three-out-of-four in seven of our past eight props columns. So, here's hoping we stay as hot as chestnuts roasting on an open fire (or on top of a closed pellet stove, take your pick).
Let's get to our picks and break down four of our favorite player props on BetMGM for Thursday night's seven-game NBA slate. Remember: you don't necessarily have to combine all four picks together. You could bet them individually to greatly increase your odds of winning, or you could attempt a parlay to try to hit it big if all four picks come through. Good luck, have fun, and enjoy what should be another exciting night of NBA hoops!
Best NBA prop bets today: Top player prop picks for Thursday
All player props courtesy of BetMGM, an authorized gaming partner of the NBA.
1. Donovan Mitchell, G, Cavaliers at Celtics — OVER 27.5 points
The Cavaliers have been up and down this season, but making them 7.5-point underdogs in Boston seems a bit disrespectful. The Cavs have won three of the past five meetings between these teams, and the two Celtics victories over Cleveland since 2022 were by a combined 11 points. Mitchell also goes off seemingly every time he plays Boston, so we know he'll be getting up for this one to break the Cavs' two-game losing streak.
Across 15 career games against the Celts, Mitchell has averaged 29.5 points per game with shooting splits of 45.5/36.9/88.1. Over the nine games he has played against Boston since 2021, he has averaged a whopping 34.1 PPG. The TD Garden doesn't have a cooling effect on Spida, either — his last four trips to Massachusetts have culminated in points totals of 37, 41, 44, and 29 on a collective 54.6 percent from the floor. Bet Mitchell's UNDER tonight at your own peril!
2. DeMar DeRozan, G/F, Bulls at Heat — OVER 24 points
Another microwave scorer with a plus road matchup, DeRozan should be able to clear 25 points in Miami with ease. The six-time All-Star averaged 28.3 points per game against the Heat last season — and while he has averaged just 19 PPG against them this season, we have good reason to believe he will blow that average away tonight.
For starters, Zach LaVine was active in each of the games Chicago played against Miami last month. And DeRozan shot well! He went 6-of-12 for 23 points in Game 1 of the regular-season series, and then shot 6-of-10 for 15 points in the second game two days later.
MORE: LaVine wants to get traded to the Lakers. Should LA pursue him?
DeRozan has been taking — and making — a lot more shots with LaVine sidelined. In the Chi's five December games without LaVine, Deebo has made a combined 42-of-105 shots for an average of 25.6 PPG.
He's also getting to the free-throw line a ton, in true DeRozan fashion. In a three-game stretch against the Hornets, Spurs, and Bucks, the three-time All-NBA selection hit 28-of-36 free throws. He won't take that many charity shots against the disciplined Heat, but Jimmy Butler and company also won't break their backs trying to stop the Bulls' only truly potent offensive threat. We have DD projected at 28 points for the evening, making this the kind of low-stress prop you look for during the holiday season.
3. Jalen Williams, F, Thunder at Kings — OVER 17.5 points
After a bit of a slow start to his sophomore season, JDub has picked it up in a major way as of late. Dating back to Nov. 6, Williams has averaged 18.5 PPG. OKC's record during that 16-game stretch: 12-4. The Santa Clara product has clearly established himself as the third scoring option of this young, talented Thunder team, and he only seems to get better as the season progresses. Take a look at his month-by-month splits, which reveal just how much he has been heating up over the past month:
| Month | Points | FG% | 3PT% | FT% |
| October | 15.5 | 47.9 | 35.7 | 100 |
| November | 17.9 | 51.8 | 32.3 | 84.3 |
| December | 19.8 | 54.4 | 66.7 | 91.7 |
Not too shabby! With JDub's confidence sky-high, our confidence in him hitting 18-plus points in a tough road matchup are also high. He has averaged 20.5 PPG against Sacramento this calendar year, and we've seen plenty of perimeter scorers go off against the Kings so far this season. We're rolling with Williams to continue his hot winter and get us the green this evening.
4. Klay Thompson, G/F, Warriors at Clippers — UNDER 16.5 points
The Warriors are in a rut right now, made worse by Draymond Green's indefinite suspension after he went all Mortal Kombat on Jusuf Nurkic. Even worse for Steve Kerr's squad, Klay and Andrew Wiggins have looked like shells of their formerly-dominant selves. Half of the Splash Brothers is MIA, with Klay averaging just 15.4 PPG (the lowest since his rookie season) and shooting just 39.7 from the floor and 34.3 from three-point land (both the worst of his career).
MORE NBA: Three ways the Warriors can save their season
With Golden State's limited supporting cast struggling to develop into core-rotation scorers (we're looking at you, Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga), Klay often seems to be trying to shoot himself out of slumps. Since Thanksgiving, the five-time All-Star has hit just 35 shots in 94 attempts (37.2%) and an ice-cold 18-of-60 triples (30.0%).
With the Dubs' point forward temporarily banned from game action — and Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden, and the Clippers finally firing on all cylinders of late — we think Klay's struggles will continue tonight under the bright Hollywood lights.
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