January 5th NBA Props – Best Player Prop Bets for All Five Games

• Five NBA games are scheduled for Tuesday, January 5th
• The Lakers, Clippers and Nets are all in action, while the Blazers face the Bulls
• See the available player props and a couple of picks for your Tuesday card below

After a packed Monday schedule, it’s a quieter NBA night on January 5th, with just five games taking place. Several of the league’s biggest stars are on show, however, with the Blazers, Lakers, Clippers and Nets all in action.

With injury uncertainty and teams already resting their stars, the player props are an interesting place to find value. Memphis, for instance, are without Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr – making them underdogs in the majority of their games.

As they face the Lakers, though, the availability of LeBron James and Anthony Davis is obviously a significant factor in player prop betting.

It’s not the busiest night of the NBA season, but there’s still plenty of good bets out there.

January 5th NBA Player Props

Odds taken on Jan 5th from FanDuel

Bubble Murray Is Back

Jamal Murray started the season slowly. It’s fair to say he’s hit his stride, as he has 67 points over his last two games on 25-for-42 from the field and seven-for-15 from beyond the arc.

The second of those stellar offensive performances came against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday – Murray will be delighted to be facing Minnesota and their league-worst defense again on Tuesday.

Murray’s point total is set at an alarmingly low 23.5 for this one. He scored 26 in the first half(!) when these teams met a couple days ago. The Timberwolves are league-worst in opponent effective field goal percentage, and there’s little sign this defense will improve. Teams are getting to the rim at will and scoring frequently when they do. Their perimeter defense is just as poor.

Minnesota will look to hide D’Angelo Russell. Murray will take advantage of any favorable matchup against the former Laker guard. There will be plenty of the Nikola Jokic and Murray two-man game – even elite defenses struggle to cope with Denver’s star duo.

This one really leapt off the screen. Backing Murray for his points over would still be a good bet at 25.5 and maybe even higher. If the game is close enough (as it was the other night) for Murray to play 30+ minutes, he should cruise past 23.5.

• Pick: Jamal Murray over 23.5 points (-110)

CJ to Light Up the Bulls

The Bulls own the 24th-rated defense in the NBA. CJ McCollum is off to a hot start, taking 22 field goal attempts per game for a scoring average of 28. He has gone over 22.5 in all but one of Portland’s six opening games. McCollum is shooting over 43% from deep, and faces a Chicago team which has been well-below average in opponent three-point attempts. The Bulls are 26th in opponent effective field goal percentage.

Coby White and Zach LaVine is an entertaining backcourt offensively. It’s been ugly on the defensive end at times – Portland is unsurprisingly heavy favorites to beat the Bulls. LaVine has consistently ranked as one of the worst defensive players in the league, and that theme has continued this season. The Bulls’ defensive rating is 13 points worse when LaVine is on the floor.

Chicago is not equipped to cope with Damian Lillard and McCollum. Even with how well he has been playing of late, Lillard will still attract the majority of the defensive attention. McCollum is going to get a lot of good looks against a Bulls team which has been lost on the defensive end, conceding 120 or more in five of their seven games.

The biggest threat to McCollum hitting his points over is limited minutes. It’s quite possible the Blazers blow the Bulls out on Tuesday, perhaps meaning McCollum doesn’t play beyond the third quarter.

With how he’s been playing, though, and how shambolic the Bulls are defensively, that could still be enough time to get 23 or more.

• Pick: CJ McCollum over 22.5 points (-112)