The NBA delivered with its Christmas slate yesterday with the days opening and closing games going down to the wire. We can expect similarly exciting action on Friday. The night’s 9-game slate will feature the Eastern-Conference leading Detroit Pistons, who will look to extend their gap over the chasing pack.
Make sure you find all of our NBA previews. But first, take a look at my favorite player props for Friday’s action below.
Moussa Diabate (CHA) over 11.5 rebounds (-114)
The Charlotte Hornets go into this game against the Orlando Magic with injuries to Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kalkbrenner. As a result, Moussa Diabate should get the start, and on recent form, he looks set to take full advantage. He has accumulated 32 total rebounds in his last 2 games and should see above 30 minutes of playing time in this contest, allowing him more than enough time to collect 12 rebounds. The Magic should be a favorable opponent too, ranking 26th over the last 10 games in offensive rating and 27th in true shooting percentage. It should allow Diabate to collect many of his boards on the defensive end.
Jalen Johnson (ATL) over 7.5 assists (+116)
Many would have expected that the return of Trae Young would have a negative impact on Jalen Johnson’s assists numbers, but that has not yet proven to be the case. The Hawks forward has managed 9 or more assists in each of the 3 games that Young has played in this month. This will be a contest between teams ranking top-5 in pace this season, so there should be more than enough possessions for both to be influential in the assists category. The Heat also have a couple of bigs in Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware that can discourage shot attempts at the rim, forcing kick outs. That is something that Johnson is more than capable of doing. And with the Heat allowing opponents to make 40.2% of their 3-point attempts over the last 10 games, his teammates will be well-positioned to convert.
Zion Williamson (NO) over 20.5 points (-114)
Zion Williamson has embraced coming off the bench for the Pelicans of late, and it is hardly a surprise. Whenever he takes to the floor, he immediately becomes the go-to option with the offense running through him. Considering he is going up against opposing second units, he is having more success than ever. In the last 3 games, he has scored at least 24 points despite not playing more than 25 minutes in any of the games. He will be up against a Phoenix Suns team that lacks rim protection, ranking 27th in blocks per game over the last 10 games. Osa Ighodaro and Khaman Malauch do offer the Suns length of the bench, but with their skinny frames, it is hard to imagine them slowing down Williamson, especially when he gets a running start.
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