Zach Thompson details his best player prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for Saturday’s matchup between the Rockets and the Heat.

The NBA has five games spread throughout this Saturday, including a matinee matchup between the Houston Rockets and the Miami Heat, which tips off at 3:40 p.m. ET on Prime Video. Both teams are jockeying for playoff positioning coming into this matchup in South Beach, and each comes in with several important storylines. Let’s break down the afternoon matchup and find some Rockets at Heat player prop bets that make sense this Saturday.

In the overall matchup, the Rockets are 2.5-point road favorites with the total set at 225.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook.

The Rockets are coming off three straight wins and have gone 6-2 in their last eight games to improve to 37-21, which has them third in the Western Conference. The Heat start the day as the No. 8 team in the Eastern Conference but have dropped back-to-back games against the Bucks and Sixers to slide to 31-29.

On the injury report, Houston listed Jabari Smith Jr. (ankle) as out, while the Heat listed Tyler Herro, Pelle Larsson, Davion Mitchell and Andrew Wiggins as available. Norman Powell and Nikola Jovic are out for Miami, though, which does impact its rotation and usage significantly.

Rockets at Heat Best Prop Bets

Bam Adebayo u9.5 Rebounds (+102)

The Rockets are a strong rebounding team, and they have allowed the second-fewest rebounds per game to centers this season. In the tough matchup, Bam Adebayo will have his work cut out for him down low.

He had 14 rebounds to go well over this prop in the team’s loss on Thursday, but he had been under this prop line in three straight and five of his previous seven games before that big total.

Adebayo could have a little more offensive responsibility while Powell is out, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll get more rebounds. He definitely has the potential to go off and get double-digit boards in any matchup, but the Rockets do a good enough job on the boards and this is a big pace-down spot for the up-tempo Heat, so Bam has a strong chance of staying under this rebound prop line.

Reed Sheppard o21.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-120)

Without Jabari Smith Jr. and in a pace-up spot against the Heat, Sheppard and the rest of the Rockets’ peripheral contributors should be able to go over their averages in many categories on Saturday. Sheppard is only averaging 18.7 PRA (points, rebounds and assists) per game on the season, but he has been much better lately and makes sense to attack at this prop line on Saturday.

Sheppard had 27 PRA with 20 points, four assists and three boards against the Magic on Thursday, and he has gone over this prop line in six of his last eight games, including each of his last three contests. He has played 30+ minutes in each of the last two games and made the most of his expanded workload.

Overall, Sheppard has had an up-and-down year, but his recent trends and the game environment make this a solid play Saturday afternoon.

Tari Eason u13.5 Points (-101)

Even without Smith and in this up-tempo spot, the under on Eason seems like a good play at this price. Eason has been getting plenty of minutes even with Smith available, but he hasn’t turned that into many high-scoring performances lately.

He has averaged 11.5 points per game on the season, and he has been held under this prop line in seven straight games and nine of his last 10.

Even with Smith’s early departure on Thursday, Eason scored only two points in 33 minutes. He has played 30+ minutes in seven of his last eight games, so the minutes are not the main issue limiting his scoring. He’s being asked to contribute more on the defensive end and in other ways, while Sheppard and others pick up the offense.

Bonus Parlay Pick: Davion Mitchell o7.5 Points (-128)

If you’re building an SGP (Same Game Parlay) from this Saturday matinee matchup, adding in the over on Mitchell’s points boosts the odds to a solid +1000 for these four Rockets-Heat bets.

Mitchell has at least eight points in each of his last 12 games with the Heat as home underdogs. He played through an illness on Thursday and only had three points in 24 minutes. However, he went over this prop line in three of his previous four games and is averaging 9.4 points per game at home. Without Powell, he should have a little more usage available on Saturday as well.