On this NBA Tuesday night slate, look at Jalen Suggs to continue filling in as the star for the injury-riddled Orlando Magic, while Steph Curry’s 25-point prop should hit in his first matchup against Houston this season.
No Paolo? No Wagner? No problem for the Orlando Magic. Somehow, some way, the Jamahl Mosley-led Magic are 3rd place in the eastern conference, sitting at 17-9 even with their two best players sidelined at the moment.
The reason being - their defense is one of the best all-around units in the NBA, while Jalen Suggs is making strides as an offensive weapon.
He’s poured in 20+ in two straight outings while shooting around 16 attempts in the month of December. Moving forward, expect a more aggressive Suggs which will lead to more FTA and therefore, a higher point average.
With OKC playing Dallas in what could become another fantastic postseason series down the road, I’m expecting the Thunder to go with a heavy guard/wing lineup and play Alex Caruso extra minutes in this one.
Caruso hasn’t shot the ball well this season and is even averaging less than 5 PPG compared to last season. However, his defense and hustle cannot be measured and that’s how the Thunder can beat Dallas.
After playing great against New Orleans, dropping 14 points in 24 minutes, expect an all-around solid performance from Caruso tonight against their rival down south.
Jabari Smith and the Rockets are just 2.5 games back out west and have a massive chance to move up in the standings tonight as they host the Warriors. Ime Udoka knows this is a big matchup for his squad as they look to get back on another winning streak.
With this being said, Jabari Smith Jr. is a player we are monitoring regarding the under. Smith has hit this PRA mark in just two of his last five, although playing around 34 MPG through that stretch.
With Golden State’s various wings including Wiggins, Green, and Kuminga, I believe it will be tough for Smith to find his rhythm in this game and might even get into some foul trouble (averaging 4 PF/G over the last five).
Sticking with this matchup out west, Steph Curry’s 25-point prop is one we are jumping on tonight. Steph is averaging this number over his last five games while finally finding his rhythm from beyond the arc away from home.
In their first meeting of the season, I’m expecting Udoka to focus on stopping everyone else outside of Curry, and in this case, Steve Kerr will let Steph run wild from beyond the arc.
Against the tougher western conference, Steph shoots it more - 17.6 FGA to 13.8 FGA and 10.5 3PA to 8.8 3PA.