Best PrizePicks NBA Player Picks Today: Value on White, Huerter, and Williamson
We’re back on this Monday with just 2 games on the slate thanks to the In-Season Tournament. Both games look like good fantasy environments, however, with totals of at least 234.5 points as of this writing. The Pacers will host the Celtics in the early game, while the Kings will welcome the Pelicans to town later on.
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NBA PrizePicks Predictions Today
Derrick White More Than 29 Fantasy Points
To say the Celtics are in a good spot tonight would be an understatement. Entering tonight’s IST quarterfinal clash, the Pacers rank first in the league in both offensive rating and pace. Indiana is also last in the league in defensive efficiency. They can score – yet they can’t stop their opponents from scoring – all while playing at a breakneck pace. In related news, 16 of the 18 games involving the Pacers so far this season have hit the over. They’ve hit just one under since the beginning of November.
The Celts will be shorthanded again tonight with Kristaps Porzingis absent from the lineup because of a calf issue. Al Horford will step into the lineup in his place, and we can expect Joe Mazzulla to run a very condensed rotation in an elimination game. Our projections have Derrick White expected to play 35 minutes in the best possible matchup.
White is in the midst of another outstanding season. He gets the biggest usage boost of any of the Celtics with Porzingis off the floor (+3.2%), and he’s up to 1.09 FP/min. with KP watching from the sidelines this season. White should breeze past 29 fantasy points if he sees a full allotment of minutes in this one.
- Play: White – More Than 29 Fantasy Points
Kevin Huerter More Than 2.5 Assists
Kevin Huerter has gotten off to a rather inconsistent start this season for the Kings. After averaging north of 29 minutes per game in his first year with the team, Huerter is down to 27.6 minutes a night so far in year 2. His assist average has improved slightly, however, from 2.9 to 3.1 despite the shorter leash.
Huerter won’t have the ball in his hands a ton for this team, and his first job is to knock down whatever open shots he gets with De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis initiating most of the offense. We have seen Huerter do a little more dishing of late, however, as he’s recorded at least 3 dimes in 4 of his last 6 outings.
Because this is a tournament game, there’s reason to believe Mike Brown may rely more heavily on his starters than usual. Huerter has averaged more than 29 minutes through the Kings’ first 4 IST games.
- Play: Huerter – More Than 2.5 Assists
Zion Williamson More Than 24.5 Points
It’s easy to forget considering how much time he’s missed due to injury, but Zion Williamson is one of the game’s elite scoring bigs. He hasn’t missed a beat early this season, as his average of 23.5 points per game is good for 24th in the league. Despite playing most of his minutes alongside other high-usage players in Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum, Zion leads the Pels in that regard (30.2%) through his first 17 games played.
Williamson is averaging around 31 minutes per game on the year, but he’s topped 33 minutes in 3 of the team’s first 4 IST games. New Orleans’ clash against the Kings in Sactown tonight features a small 3.5-point spread, and we have Zion projected for 34 minutes in what should be a competitive, high-scoring game.
Tonight will already be the third meeting of the young season between these two teams. Williamson is averaging 25.5 points across the first 2 matchups on hyper-efficient 68% shooting from the field. Sacramento doesn’t have much rim protection defensively, which makes this a perfect spot for Zion to attack the basket in his usual relentless fashion.
- Play: Williamson – More Than 24.5 Points