Welcome to the start of the NBA playoffs — well, kind of. Wednesday brings the second day of the first round of the NBA play-in tournament, with the Hornets taking on the Hawks in the Eastern Conference and the Pelicans hosting the Spurs in the Western Conference. And you know what that means: Yep, another chance to bag a few bucks with Wednesday NBA props!
While the stakes have changed for the teams on the court, the goal from our perspective has not: help you make money. Throughout the play-in tournament and into the playoffs, Props.com will present our top NBA props selections from the day’s action, then do what we do best: Provide in-depth analysis that you can choose to use (or not use!) for wagering purposes.
With that, let’s dive into our favorite NBA Props from Wednesday’s two-game slate.
Odds via DraftKings and updated as of noon ET.
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Charlotte Hornets: PG LaMelo Ball
The prop: 6.5 rebounds (at Atlanta)
The odds: Over +105/Under -140
This prop has been a consistent target for me recently, and I’m going back to the well in a must-win game for the Hornets. Ball has averaged 6.7 rebounds per game this season, but his numbers have been down as of late. He averaged just 5.6 rebounds per game in March, which was his worst split of the season.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that Ball averaged approximately 31 minutes in those contests. He will almost certainly see a few additional minutes in a must-win play-in contest, which makes the Over a lot more appealing. Ball has averaged 7.4 rebounds per 36 minutes, and he’s hit the Over on 6.5 boards in 19 of 28 games with at least 34 minutes this season (67.9%).
The Hawks are a middling squad in terms of team rebound rate, so being able to grab this prop at better than even money is a steal.
San Antonio Spurs: SG/SF Devin Vassell
The prop: 19.5 points + rebounds + assists (at New Orleans)
The odds: Over -120/Under -110
The Spurs never intended on making it to this point of the season. They were still resting their best players down the stretch, but the Lakers’ collapse allowed San Antonio to sneak in as the No. 10 seed.
The Spurs have a host of interesting players on their roster, including Vassell. The No. 11 pick from the 2020 NBA Draft has had a solid year, averaging 12.3 points, 4.3 boards, and 1.9 assists per game. Those numbers won’t blow you away, but he has been a bigger part of the game plan as the year progressed. He averaged 30.8 minutes over his final 17 contests and averaged 20.7 points/rebounds/assists over that stretch.
Remember, the Spurs weren’t even necessarily trying to win most of those games. Now that they’ve made it to the play-in tournament, Vassell could see a sizable increase in playing time. That makes the over on 19.5 PRA an appealing option.
New Orleans Pelicans: F Herb Jones
The prop: 10.5 points (vs. San Antonio)
The odds: Over +100/Under -125
Jones has been a revelation for the Pelicans as a rookie. Expectations were minimal for the second-rounder from Alabama, but he has made a massive impact on the defensive end.
His work as a defender allowed him to rack up plenty of minutes for the Pels. He didn’t play in their final game of the year, and the previous two games were blowouts. However, he averaged 33.6 minutes in six games from March 26 through April 5. That seems like a good indicator of how much Jones will play during the postseason. Jones is far from a scoring dynamo, but he’s averaged 11.4 points per 36 minutes. With some average shooting luck, I like his chances of hitting the Over on 10.5 points.