NBA Player Props for Thursday, 1/8: Best Bets & Predictions Today
What kind of performances can we expect from Donovan Mitchell, Anthony Davis, and Klay Thompson? Follow along as our NBA betting analyst, Nick Galaida, breaks down three of his favorite NBA prop bets for Thursday, January 8th. Get all of Nick’s picks, including more NBA plays, by subscribing to the RotoGrinders Props & Pick’em package.
The NBA has only 4 games on tap for Thursday, but fans shouldn’t be short on entertainment, with stars like Donovan Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, and Anthony Davis scheduled to be in action.
It’s worth noting that Edwards is officially listed as questionable on the NBA injury report as of this writing, but it seems as though he has a good chance to suit up this evening.
As always, be sure to use tools like CourtIQ and our NBA starting lineups page to evaluate how injuries impact usage and to search for inefficiencies in the player prop and DFS markets.
Below, you can find 3 of my favorite picks for Thursday, January 8th!
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Best NBA Player Props for Thursday, January 8th
Here are my top player prop bets for today, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 PM ET on Thursday, January 8th:
- Donovan Mitchell Over/Under 30.5 Points
- Anthony Davis Over/Under 24.5 Points
- Klay Thompson Over/Under 12.5 Points
Donovan Mitchell UNDER 30.5 Points (-115, DraftKings)
In 6 road games this season with Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen all available, Mitchell has cleared this number only 2 times. Overall, Mitchell has been slightly less productive on the road this season too, averaging 0.9 fewer points per game and shooting 1.5% worse from the field.
The Timberwolves rank 6th in defensive rating across their last 8 contests. Factoring in Mitchell’s slight road struggles and this being a tough matchup is enough to project some value on the under.
Anthony Davis OVER 24.5 Points (-115, DraftKings)
Davis has played 36+ minutes in each of his first 3 games in January, indicating that he’s fully healed from the minor injury he suffered on Christmas Day against the Warriors. This past Tuesday, Davis took 23 shot attempts against the Kings, with P.J. Washington out of the lineup.
Davis has attempted at least 17 shots in all 4 games he’s played this season with Washington inactive, excluding the team’s blowout loss to the Thunder on December 5th when Davis played only 24 minutes. This profiles as another high-usage situation for Davis against a relatively poor Utah defense.
Klay Thompson OVER 12.5 Points (+100, bet365)
Thompson only had 6 points on Tuesday against the Kings, but he played 27 minutes and took 12 shots. Assuming he sees a similar role tonight, he should have a great chance to clear this number.
According to the RotoGrinders CourtIQ tool, Thompson is averaging 12.2 points per 24 minutes this season with P.J. Washington off of the floor. He’s scored 13+ points in 4 of the 5 games in which he’s seen 20+ minutes, with the lone outlier being Tuesday’s aforementioned performance.
This is a good bounce-back spot for Thompson.
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