January 6th NBA Player Props – Best Player Prop Bets in Warriors vs Pelicans, Clippers vs Suns and More

• The NBA season rolls on Thursday (Jan. 6th) with a four-game slate
• Jonas Valanciunas ranks fourth in the NBA in rebounds per game, and catches a favorable matchup versus the shorthanded Warriors
• See below to find out where we think the betting value lies

A light night in the NBA brings us only four games to sweat on Thursday (January 6th). To complicate matters, there is some roster uncertainty for a couple of the teams, which limits the amount of player props that are currently posted.

The biggest question mark of the slate is the status of Steph Curry. The two-time MVP played in Golden State’s loss to Dallas on Wednesday, but is dealing with a quad contusion. The injury has him questionable for Thursday’s date with New Orleans, which is a big blow to a Warriors team that’s already missing a handful of players.

As a result of Curry’s questionable status, no Golden State player props are currently posted. We do have some Pelicans options to choose from however, and that’s where we’ll start our player props betting card.

NBA Player Props – Thursday, January 6

Odds as of Jan. 6th at DraftKings.

Prop #1: Jonas Valanciunas Over 11.5 Rebounds

New Orleans’ Jonas Valanciunas enters play on Thursday averaging 12 rebounds per outing, which is the fourth highest mark in the league. His prop is currently set at 11.5, a number he has eclipsed four times in his past six outings, including on Tuesday against Phoenix.

That night JV turned in a 25 point, 16 rebound effort in 35 minutes of action. He’s averaging a career-high 31.6 minutes of playing time per contest, and given how close this game is projected by oddsmakers, we can project his playing time to be a few minutes higher than his season average.

Jonas Valančiūnas 🙌#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/GytRG7hWtX

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) December 29, 2021

The Pelicans are 2.5-point underdogs against the Warriors, in their second meeting of the season. Last time they squared off, Golden State had no answer for Valanciunas on the glass. JV racked up 15 boards despite the game being a total blowout in the Warriors’ favor.

Also working in his favor of this prop is Golden State’s lousy rebounding statistics. Only one team (Miami) ranks lower in total rebounding than the Warriors.

Prop #2: Chris Paul Under 15.5 Points

If Chris Paul wanted to he could easily score more often than he does. However, on a Phoenix team with a bevy of talented scorers there’s no need for Paul to force the issue. He’s averaging only 14.1 points per contest, yet his points prop on Thursday versus the LA Clippers is set at 15.5.

Chris Paul leads the NBA in total assists (358) and total steals (70).

The last player to lead in both categories was Chris Paul in 2008-09. He also did it in 2007-08.

The last player not named Chris Paul to lead in both was John Stockton in 1991-92. pic.twitter.com/MY2n4BPI2x

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 3, 2022

The Suns are 11-point home favorites over the Clippers, and should have no problem handling an LA team missing its top scorer Paul George. Paul has failed to reach 15 points in each of his past five games, and in 13 of his last 16 outings overall. The last time he faced the Clips, he mustered only 9 points.

As such a heavy favorite, there’s a strong chance Paul falls well short of his season average playing time. He’s on the court for an average of 32 minutes per game, but his playing time has been drastically slashed this season when Phoenix is up big. For example, he averaged just 25.6 minutes during a trio of blowout wins last month.