NBA Betting: LaMelo Ball’s Brotherly Matchup Headlines Monday Props Action

LaMelo Ball brings the ball up the court for the Charlotte Hornets in a 2021 home game.
Image Credit: Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

Each week, Props.com selects five intriguing player and/or team NBA betting props from a busy night of action. Then, we do what we do best: Provide in-depth analysis that you can choose to use (or not use!) for wagering purposes.

Here are our five favorite NBA betting props from Monday’s slate of nine games.

Odds via DraftKings and updated as of 2 p.m. ET on Nov. 29.

Philadelphia 76ers Vs. Orlando Magic

Philadelphia Sixers center #21 Joel Embiid reacts to a foul call in a 2021 home game.
Image Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Prop: Sixers -4.5, first quarter (vs. Orlando)
The Odds: Sixers -110/Magic -110

The 76ers (still playing without holdout Ben Simmons) are currently 10th in the Eastern Conference and have dropped their last four home games. During those four contests, Philadelphia has covered this prop just once, posting first-quarter point differentials of -7, +9, +3 and -15.

In fact, the 76ers have beaten this number just once in their last five contests overall. Still, Philly is 13-7 ATS in opening quarters this season while ranking eighth overall in first-quarter scoring at 27.9 points per game.

Conversely, the Magic are an anemic 28th in the opening-quarter scoring (24.3 points per game). That has translated to a 9-11-1 first-quarter ATS mark. During their ongoing six-game losing skid, the Magic have covered this +4.5 number three times.

Related: New to betting NBA props? Check out our complete NBA Prop Betting Guide.

Charlotte Hornets: PG LaMelo Ball

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 14: LaMelo Ball #2 of the Charlotte Hornets passes the ball against the Golden State Warriors during their game at Spectrum Center on November 14, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Image Credit: Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

The Prop: 15.5 assists/rebounds (at Chicago)
The Odds: Over -115/Under -115

Ball enters this contest — his first NBA game against older brother Lonzo —averaging 7.9 rebounds and 8.0 assists this season. He’s collected eight-plus rebounds seven times in his last 11 games and notched eight-plus assists in nine of 13 contests since Nov. 5. That includes back-to-back tallies of 13 dimes last weekend (vs. Minnesota, at Houston).

Altogether, Ball has eclipsed Monday’s prop number in nine of his last 11 outings, posting combined totals of 27, 17, 26, 12, 20, 19, 20, 20, 8, 19 and 24.

Ball had Sunday off after logging 29 and 39 minutes in the Hornets’ back-to-back games Friday and Saturday.

Dallas Mavericks: PG Luka Doncic

Dallas Mavericks player Luka Doncic dribbles the basketball after grabbing a rebound
Image Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Prop: 42.5 points/rebounds/assists (vs. Cleveland)
The Odds: Over -110/Under -115

Doncic has averaged 46 points/rebounds/assists over his last five games. However, he only eclipsed this number three times during this span, posting combined totals of 47, 44, 42, 59 and 38. In fact, for the season, the Mavs’ star has tallied at least 43 points/rebounds assists just six times in 15 games, despite averaging 25.5 points, 8.1 rebonds, and 8.1 dimes per contest.

Last year, Doncic averaged 29 points/rebounds/assists in two games against the Cavaliers last season (back-to-back contests in May).

Doncic recently missed three games to a minor leg injury. Upon returning to the court, he averaged 39-plus minutes over two games.

Washington Wizards at San Antonio Spurs

Washington Wizards guard #3 Bradley Beal brings the ball up the court in a 2021 road game.
Image Credit: Steven Ryan/Getty Images

The Prop: 218.5 combined points (alternate total)
The Odds: Over +115/Under -160

This alternate tally is 3.5 points higher than DraftKings’ actual total (215), and it might hold equal appeal to both Over and Under bettors.

For the Under crowd:

— The Wizards failed to score more than 104 points in 10 consecutive games from Nov. 7-26. During that span, Washington’s defense surrendered 109 or fewer points nine times. The lone exception: Last Wednesday’s 127-102 loss to the Pelicans.

— Washington has gone over this alternate total just twice in its last last 13 outings.

— The Spurs have been all over the totals map during their last five games (198, 205, 226, 230, and 184 combined points), for an average of 208.6.

For the Over crowd:

— In their last four head-to-head encounters, Washington and San Antonio have averaged a staggering 256.9 combined points. The four totals: 222, 289 (overtime classic in April 2021), 246, and 270 points.

— Despite their recent scoring inconsistency, the Spurs have still gone over this alternate number in five of their last eight games.

Schedule-wise, the Wizards are wrapping up a four-game road trip (New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Dallas, and San Antonio). The Spurs, in turn, are concluding a four-game homestand tonight and haven’t played since Friday.

Utah Jazz: SG Donovan Mitchell

Utah Jazz guard #45 Donovan Mitchell runs back after a made basket in a 2021 home game.
Image Credit: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

The Prop: 24.5 points (vs. Portland)
The Odds: Over -105/Under -115

This one would appear to be a layup for Under bettors, based on three factors:

— Mitchell is averaging only 18.6 points in his last eight games. For this stretch, he toppled Monday’s prop number just once (22, 13, 20, 26, 18, 13, 16, and 21 points).

— Mitchell has averaged only 31.7 minutes of court time during this span. That’s significant to mention because Mitchell has scored 25 or more points this season eight times in his last 20 games. In those eight instances, the two-time All-Star was on the court for at least 31 minutes, 59 seconds on every occasion.

— Mitchell has been all over the proverbial map in recent meetings against Portland, scoring 20, 37, 35, 25, and 16 points.

One reason to roll with the Over here: The Blazers rank 24th in scoring defense, allowing 110.0 points per game. Also, Portland has surrendered the league’s third-worst rate of made three-pointers (13.7 per game). Mitchell — who logged just 27 minutes in Utah’s Saturday rout of New Orleans — has buried five or more triples three times this season.

Jay Clemons
Jay Clemons remains the only sports writer on the planet to capture Cynposis Media's national award for Sports Blog Of The Year (beating out NBA.com, MLB.com, PGATour.com, The Players' Tribune in 2015), along with the Fantasy Sports Writers Association's pre-eminent award for Best Football Writer (2008). Through the years, Mr. Clemons has been a key figure with numerous blue-chip sports/media brands, namely the Detroit Lions, Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports, Bleacher Report and now American Affiliate's Props.com. Clemons, a graduate of Michigan State University and Wayne State University, has been an on-camera Web-TV host for Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report and FOX Sports. In 2015, he also became the first-ever sports journalism professor at Kennesaw State University in suburban Atlanta. And for the betting community, covering the last two years of the sports calendar (2019-20 / 2020-21), Clemons enjoyed a rock-solid winning rate of 59.6 percent with point-spread and over/under selections (NFL, college football and college basketball.)

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