Best NBA Player Props for Tonight | November 12th

Happy NBA Cup Day to all that celebrate. It’s the second year of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament and today mark’s the start of the Group Stage. Let’s get a quick refresher on how the tournament works, and then we can right into my plays.

All 30 teams are split into 6-groups of 5-teams. Each team will play each other once in the Group Stage, with the top-2 teams in each group moving on. Tie-breakers will be point differential and total points, so we should see some high scoring games.

For a full breakdown of the tournament and how it works, click here.

Here are our favorite bets on tonight’s NBA Slate!

• • Charlotte Hornets +8 (-110)
    
  • RJ Barrett o20.5 Points (-120)
  • Anthony Edwards o26.5 Points (-110)

Charlotte Hornets +8.5 (-111)

The Charlotte Hornets look just a little different this year. Lamelo Ball has come back from injury and is now leading this team in almost every category. That’s not really a surprise, knowing what Melo’s capable of, but he’s still outplaying the expectations.

Lamelo is averaging 29.3 points per game, shooting 44% from the field and 37% from deep. He’s adding 4.9 rebounds per game and just over 6 assists. The Hornets are out to a 4-6 start to the season and look like they have expectations for the post-season.

Tonight the NBA’s In-Season Tournament starts and with it, a whole added layer of motivation for these players. Last year, in their opening game of the NBA Cup, the Hornets beat the Wizards by 7; in Washington D.C.

Young Guns

This year, the Hornets team looks extremely different. Last year they still had PJ Washington and Gordon Hayward in the starting lineup; this year it’s mainly been on the shoulders of Lamelo Ball and Brandon Miller.

Miller’s played in just 6 of the Hornet’s 10 games this year, due to an injury he sustained  just 11 minutes into in the season opener. On the season, he’s averaging 17 points per game shooting 42% and 37% from 3.

His numbers are a little skewed, just because of the injury and a little rust in his first two games back. However, over his last 3 games, Miller is averaging 23.3 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists; he’s shooting 47% and 39% from 3. 

The Hornets are 2-1 in these games, with their 1 loss being a 2-point, overtime loss to the Sixers. This isn’t the Hornets team you grew up with, they rank 5th in the league in bench scoring, 4th in 3-pointers made, and they’ve done it while battling injuries.

Tonight both Tre Mann and Miles Bridges remain a game time decision, but with both Lamelo and Miller in the lineup; I’m confident they can keep it close.

Charlotte Hornets +8 (-110) 

Bonus: Charlotte Hornets ML (+280)

RJ Barrett o20.5 Points (-120)

The Raptors are 2-9 on the year, have the 30th ranked defense in the league, rank 28th in opposing field goal percentage and rank 25th in points allowed in the paint; if they plan on winning games they’ll need to score a lot of points.

RJ Barrett leads the Raptors in usage this season, seeing a 30% usage rate in his 8 games with the team this year. Barrett’s season began a little late, due to injury, but he’s looked great out of the gates.

In his first full year with the Raptors, Barrett’s averaging 23.1 points, 6 rebound and 6 assists; all career-highs. He’s seeing the most usage he’s ever seen, as the Raptors #1 option with Scottie Barnes still sidelined.

RJ’s averaging 19 shot attempts per game and getting to the line for just under 6 free throw attempts per game. Tonight he faces off with a Bucks team that is deep in turmoil.

Milwaukee is 2-8 on the year, losers of 7 of their last 9 games. It hasn’t been pretty for Bucks’ fans and a big reason is their defense. The Bucks rank 20th in points allowed, 25th in 3P percentage allowed and a majority of problems begin with their backcourt.

Milwaukee ranks 24th in points allowed to shooting guards and 23rd against point guards. Barrett’s increased usage and matchup should result in a big night for the Maple Mamba.

RJ Barrett o20.5 Points (-120)

Anthony Edwards o26.5 Points  (-110)

Normally, in a matchup like this one, I’d stay off with the potential of a blowout; however, this being the NBA Cup we should see some high scoring games. Last year, we were introduced to the NBA’s In-Season Tournament and it was fun.

Games were relatively high scoring, and because of the tie-breaker, score differential really matters. With that, we saw teams really making an effort to not only score more points but also leave their starters in for that much longer.

Tonight with the opening games of the NBA Cup, I’m expecting a similar situation for this Timberwolves team. The Wolves are hungry for success, and the new In-Season Tourney is the perfect place to start.

Ant’s averaging 28.3 points per game, he’s shooting 47% from the field and 46% from beyond the arc. He’s also shooting a career-high 12 3s a game and leading the Timberwolves in usage (32%).

Portland’s defense presents the perfect type of matchup for young Antman. The Blazers rank 30th in points allowed to shooting guards this year, they rank 27th in opponent 3s made, and 25th in opposing 3p percentage.

Edwards just scored 37 against this Portland team, last week, look for more of the same tonight.

Anthony Edwards o26.5 Points (-110)

To Recap, NBA Bets for November 12th, 2024:

We’ve got a small slate of games tonight. We’re rolling with 3 plays; Charlotte Hornets +8.5 (-111), RJ Barrett o20.5 Points (-120) & Anthony Edwards o26.5 Points (-110); all via BetOnline.

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