January 15th NBA Props – Best Player Prop Bets for All 8 Games

• Despite postponements, there’s a packed schedule of NBA games on January 15th
• Many of the league’s biggest stars are in action, including LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo
• Which player props represent betting value on Friday night?

There’s a tantalizing schedule of NBA games on January 15th. Friday’s games are a great opportunity to delve into player props with many of the league’s stars in action.

Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo match up, while Trae Young’s Hawks take on the Utah Jazz. LeBron James and Zion Williamson are set to go head-to-head as Anthony Davis faces his former team.

Elsewhere, Ja Morant could be in line for a return after an injury lay-off. There’s a battle of young backcourt stars between the Bulls and Thunder, too.

January 15th NBA Player Props and Odds

Odds taken on Jan 15 from FanDuel

KAT Takes Over

There isn’t a huge sample to work from with Karl-Anthony Towns this season. He’s played just four games, and only two of three since returning from injury. Still, it’s a surprise to see his points line down at 22.5 against the Grizzlies. Towns has scored 25 in each of his last two, and averaged over 26 per contest in 2019-20.

This might be a dysfunctional, and downright bad, Minnesota Timberwolves team, but they’re not exactly facing a juggernaut on Friday. Memphis rank fourth in defensive rating and have won their last three (including the T-Wolves last time out), yet this is not some stacked defensive unit.

They are doing a good job at making opponents take inefficient shots (the Grizz rank in defensive location effective field goal percentage), but the fact Towns scored 25 in 34 minutes while only hitting one three bodes well for backing the over on 22.5 on Friday.

There’s a lot wrong with the Timberwolves. Towns has been taking far fewer threes (four per game, down from over seven last season). A roster which has experienced major changes over the last couple seasons is still figuring things out, but it shouldn’t be long before they realize how important it is to run the offense through Towns.

Towns is one of the gifted big men in the league. Memphis are a good defensive team, but it’s not like he’s facing Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo or Joel Embiid. He should get plenty of good looks – he’ll cruise past 22.5 points

• Pick: Karl Anthony-Towns over 22.5 points (-110)

LeBron the Shooter

LeBron James is questionable for Friday’s game against the Pelicans with an ankle issue. He’s appeared on the injury report already this season, and the troublesome ankle is yet to force him out of a game. It’s reasonable to expect the four-time MVP to play on Friday. New Orleans is without Lonzo Ball once again and Eric Bledose is, again, questionable. While neither of the pair would have been LeBron’s primary defender, there’s no question the Pels are going to struggle to guard the perimeter.

LEBRON DID THE CURRY NO-LOOK THREE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ctm3uHJW2q

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 13, 2021

The Pelicans faced the Clippers without their starting backcourt a couple days ago. The Clips shot almost 50% from three – Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combined to go seven-for-13. The Pels were not stopping the Clippers’ stars from getting good three-point looks. That trend could continue against LeBron and the Lakers.

Combine poor three-point defense with James’ career-best three-point shooting and over 2.5 threes looks a sure fire bet. James has made three or more treys in eight of this 13 games so far this term. He’s gone nine-for-17 from deep over his last two games.

The Pelicans rank bottom of the league in the percentage of opponent shots which come from behind the arc. LeBron is taking a career-high 7.2 three-point attempts per 36 this season. He’s a great bet to hit the over.

• Pick: LeBron James over 2.5 threes (+130)