A few rookies crack our list for the best Thursday NBA bets. Out East, Kon Kneuppel looks to continue his ROTY campaign against the Hawks after coming off a huge upset win over Cleveland.
Looking at a Spurs team that came so close to winning the NBA Cup in Vegas, Dylan Harper stands out as a solid bet to score at will against a struggling Wizards defense.
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Kon has been on a heater as of late, scoring 62 points over the Hornets’ last two outings. He’s starting to find his way as a playmaker as well, averaging 5.2 APG in the month of December.
Coming off an upset victory over Cleveland, I’ll ride the hot-handed rookie to make another big impact as he quite possibly could be leading the ROTY race heading into the new year.
Benn Mathurin has been quiet as of late, scoring just 7 & 15 points in his last two outings last week in two losses. However, Benn hasn’t gone three straight games without hitting two three-pointers all season long, leading us to take his over tonight against the New York Knicks.
With Indiana’s playmakers now healthy, a spread floor will help Mathurin get back on track and have his best game in over a week against a New York team coming off their Vegas NBA Cup victory.
Dylan Harper is a true three-level scorer whose current play tells us he is in for a big night. After two quiet games, he exploded for 21 points in their Cup Final loss to New York in 28 minutes of play.
Harper will most likely come off the bench once again with Fox, Harper, and Champagnie all healthy, but that could be a big win against a Washington team that lacks plenty of defensive depth.
Looking back on previous Wizards games against playoff contenders, they surrendered 48 points to Donovan Mitchell, 30 points to Jalen Johnson, and another 30 points to Derrick White. I’ll take Harper to have another solid scoring night.