3 Best NBA Bets and Player Props for Sunday 12/22/24

The 82-game NBA regular season offers us a wide variety of betting options, including point spreads, moneylines, and totals. The Association features 1,230 regular season games, which can make sifting through the odds an overwhelming task.

However, various advanced statistics can help narrow the choices. numberFire's NBA power rankings and daily NBA projections paired with advanced stats from the NBA can help give the inside track to quality bets.

While utilizing some of the mentioned tools, which NBA odds from FanDuel Sportsbook look like the best bets today?

Please note lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published. All injury news comes from the NBA's official injury report.

Today's Best NBA Bets and Player Props

Toronto Raptors at Houston Rockets

Under 224.0 Points (-108)

If there's an upset by the Toronto Raptors tonight, it's probably a poor shooting night from the Houston Rockets as they head north of the border.

Houston is a brutally difficult matchup to score on behind the league's second-best defensive rating (105.6 DRTG), but they've also plummeted in terms of tempo in their last 10 games (26th) while maintaining a top-10 mark in DRTG. They've allowed just 109.7 points over their last 10 games despite facing five top-10 teams in pace.

Meanwhile, it's not as if the Raps are a juggernaut offensively. Beyond their season-long 110.4 offensive rating (ORTG; 23rd in the NBA), they've got just a 95.9 ORTG in two games without Jakob Poeltl, who will sit tonight with a groin injury.

At the Rockets' slow pace, it's difficult to see either of these bottom-seven teams in true-shooting percentage (TS%) lighting it up.

Denver Nuggets at New Orleans Pelicans

Nuggets -10.0 (-110)
Michael Porter Jr. Over 16.5 Points (-120)

This hasn't been the season the Denver Nuggets hoped for, but they got a layup on Sunday.

Denver faces a New Orleans Pelicans squad with one of the worst home courts in the Association, and they'll face NOLA on the second leg of their back-to-back. The Pels lost by double digits -- again -- to the New York Knicks on Saturday.

That continued a stretch where New Orleans has the second-worst net rating (-11.0 NRTG) in the NBA over their last 10 games. Denver has gotten healthy and righted the ship with a +2.1 NRTG in this same stretch.

The Nuggets are just 10-14-1 against the spread (ATS) this season, but they've covered three of their last four. They'd be the sixth team in the last 10 games to beat the Pelicans by double figures.

One of the reasons why could be failing to keep Michael Porter Jr. in check.

Even with Herbert Jones being an excellent on-ball defender, New Orleans has allowed the very most points per game in the NBA to opposing small forwards (24.6).

MPJ dropped 24 points in his only meeting with the Pelicans this season, and he's enjoyed a nice December at 18.1 points per game (PPG) on 56.1% shooting.

Our daily NBA projections expect 18.5 points from Porter Jr. in this game. I'd be stunned if this line didn't get bumped toward that mark as the day progresses.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.