Five essential NBA player prop strategies
As betting becomes more and more popular, we’re seeing a huge increase in the number of people who want to bet specifically on player props. There’s something about rooting for individual players that is appealing to a lot of fans, and that’s especially true of the NBA. A lot of that has to do with the fact that you’re often getting national television games that feature some of the league’s superstars. And sportsbooks also happen to offer a lot of bet boosts on those stars, making it easy for props to catch the attention of bettors.
Last year, I did a daily NBA player props column for VSiN, highlighting some of my favorite props of the day. I’ll be doing that again from Monday to Friday for the upcoming season, so you’ll often be able to take 2-3 of my picks — and I’ll even do some player spotlights in which I’ll provide an in-depth dive on a player’s matchup that I absolutely love. I’ll also see if there are any boosts from DraftKings Sportsbook that I’d personally suggest playing. However, I know that part of the fun with betting is doing it yourself. With that in mind, I want to give you some tips on how to go about player prop betting in a smart way.
Learn from the game spread/total
The first thing I do when beginning to look for props is look at the spreads and totals for the day’s slate. If a game has an extremely high total, you’re likely going to have a chance to cash some Overs on points and assists. And if one of the teams is a big favorite in that game, you might want to lean toward choosing players from that roster. Similarly, if a game has a low total, you can probably find some good Under plays on the underdog’s side. Or you might be able to look to the blocks and steals markets, as lower totals in the NBA are usually reserved for teams that play good defense or sloppy offense. The one caveat there is that a low total could simply mean that one, or both, of the teams in that game play at a slow pace. Pace of play is one of the many things that are available on the official NBA stats page.