NBA Player Props Today: Best Bets & Predictions for Wednesday (2/19)
What kind of performances can we expect on Wednesday from Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic, and LeBron James? Follow along as our NBA betting expert, Nick Galaida, breaks down three of his favorite NBA prop bets for today — Wednesday, February 19, 2025. Get all of Nick’s picks, including more NBA player props, at ScoresAndOdds.
The NBA is back! Well, kind of.
The Association has only 1 game on tap to begin the 2nd half of their regular season action, with the Hornets visiting the Lakers tonight. Still, basketball fans will take what they can get after having no meaningful basketball played since last Thursday.
Tonight’s tip-off is scheduled for 10:00 PM ET, with the Lakers favored by 12.5 points and the total set at over/under 228.5 points.
As always, be sure to monitor the NBA injury report throughout the day and utilize tools like CourtIQ and our NBA starting lineups page to help identify value opportunities in the betting and DFS markets!
If looking to target the player prop market today, we have three player prop leans worth considering for Wednesday, February 19th!
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NBA Player Props Today – Wednesday, February 19, 2025
- Austin Reaves Over/Under 21.5 Points
- Luka Doncic Over/Under 26.5 Points
- LeBron James Over/Under 8.5 Assists
Austin Reaves UNDER 21.5 Points (-115, DraftKings)
Reaves has emerged as a legitimate scoring option for the Lakers in his 3rd season, but the arrival of Luka Doncic also means that he’s unquestionably the team’s 3rd option on the offensive end. Playing alongside Doncic for 2 games prior to the All-Star Break, Reaves scored 22 points and 15 points against a poor Utah defense on nights that Doncic was on a minutes restriction.
Coming out of the break, Reaves has a tougher matchup against an improving Charlotte defense in addition to more shared court time with Doncic, who no longer has his workload restricted. It’s difficult to see Reaves flirting with 20 points on a nightly basis going forward when the Lakers’ two costars are both available.
Luka Doncic UNDER 26.5 Points (-115, DraftKings)
Doncic will reportedly no longer have a minutes restriction. Almost certainly, that should lead to an increase in shot attempts compared to his first 2 games with the Lakers, in which he played 24 minutes or fewer in each game.
That said, Doncic still might not be someone who averages close to 30 points per game going forward. In 2 games with the Lakers, Doncic has averaged only 23 points per 36 minutes of action. Increased efficiency shooting the basketball could lead to some higher scoring outputs, but this is an offense that has plenty of capable scorers – meaning that Doncic doesn’t need to always be looking for his shot in the same way that he did in Dallas.
The under could have a little bit of value here.
LeBron James UNDER 8.5 Assists (-120, bet365)
James missed this past weekend’s All-Star Game due to a lingering ankle issue, which may or may not have any impact on his workload tonight. However, it would make sense to see James play slightly fewer minutes now that Doncic is off of his minutes restriction.
James, now 40 years old, is most valuable to the Lakers for what he could bring to the table during the playoffs. The key is doing everything they can to keep him healthy and feeling good when April and May roll around. James averaged 35.6 minutes per game in November but only 34.8 minutes per game in December and only 33.9 minutes per game in January. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him settle into the 32-minute range coming out of the break, especially against weaker opponents.
Even a slight reduction in minutes could make it difficult for James to clear this market number on a consistent basis. Doncic and Reaves are also capable passers who should do a good portion of the facilitating for this offense. The math favors the under.
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