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LeBron James vs Zion Williamson Prop Bets for Friday (Mar. 22)

Sascha Paruk

by Sascha Paruk in College Basketball

Updated Mar 24, 2020 · 10:09 AM PDT

LeBron James dribbling
LeBron James is being pitted against Duke's Zion Williamson in a series of prop bets tonight when LA hosts Brooklyn and Duke faces North Dakota State. Photo by Prensa Internacional/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire.
  • One sportsbook is putting Zion head-to-head with LeBron tonight
  • Duke is a 26-point favorite vs ND State; the Lakers are 3-point home dogs vs Brooklyn
  • There’s at least one prop bet that looks like a good wager

The sportsbook has posted eight different Zion Williamson vs LeBron James prop bets for their respective games on Friday, March 22nd.

They are as follows …

Zion Williamson vs LeBron James Props

Prop Zion Williamson vs ND State LeBron James vs Brooklyn Nets
More Points +170 -250
More Rebounds -120 -120
More Points + Rebounds +170 -250
More Minutes Played -110 -130
More Shot Attempts +200 -300
Higher Shooting Percentage -300 +200
More Free Throw Attempts +100 -140
More Free Throws Made +100 -140

Duke is a Huge Favorite vs North Dakota State

Zion’s Duke Blue Devils face #16 seed North Dakota State at 7:10 PM ET tonight. They are roughly 26-point favorites over the Bison.

For the season, Zion is averaging 22.1 PPG and 8.9 RPG on 69.3% shooting from the field. But that includes a zero-point effort against North Carolina, a game in which he played just 30 seconds due to a knee injury. After exiting the UNC game, he missed the next five with that same knee injury.

Tonight, Zion is not going to have much trouble scoring against a ND State team that ranks 293rd in defensive efficiency. But he’s also not likely to be pressed for the full 40 minutes by coach Mike Krzyzewski, not with that recent injury history.

That’s part of the reason why Zion’s point total is a significant underdog to LeBron’s.

Lakers Are Home Underdogs vs Brooklyn

By contrast, LeBron’s LA Lakers are three-point home underdogs to the visiting Brooklyn Nets. The team has been absolutely decimated by injuries and is face-planting to the finish line of the NBA season.


LA is 1-9 in its last ten, and LeBron’s minutes are being scaled back. Even though NBA games are a full eight minutes longer than college games, the minutes-played prop is almost a dead heat.

For the season, LeBron is averaging 27.5 PPG, 8.5 RPG on 51.4% shooting. He’s played 31.8 minutes per game over the last five, significantly down from his season average of 38.6 MPG.

What’s the Best Bet?

The unpredictability related to both of their minutes makes the points and rebounds props stay-aways for me.

The best bet on the board looks like Zion to have a higher FG% tonight. You have to lay a lot of juice (-300), but Zion is remarkably efficient from the field.

Zion has hit at 60% or better in each of these last six full games, including a record-setting 13/13 performance from the field against a great UNC team.

YouTube video

LeBron has hit 60% from the field just once in his last ten.

Outside of Zion starting the game 0/1 and then getting injured, my math says there is more than a 75% chance that Zion has a higher FG% than LeBron tonight, and that makes this bet good value.

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