Blake Krass details his best player prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for Friday’s matchup between the Nuggets and the Knicks.
The Denver Nuggets are hosting the New York Knicks on Friday at 9 p.m. ET.
The Knicks are 1.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, with the total set at 230.5 points.
Nuggets vs. Knicks Best Prop Bets
Jalen Brunson Over 26.5 Points (-108)
The Knicks and Nuggets played a thriller in New York earlier this season. Jalen Brunson was the hero in a double-overtime win for the Knicks. Brunson made five three-pointers en route to a 42-point performance. For the third consecutive season, Brunson is a top-10 scorer in the NBA. He is averaging 26.5 points per game, good enough for ninth in the NBA. Brunson has been a problem for the Nuggets in the past as well, putting up 30 points in a game against Denver last season.
The Nuggets are a hard team to crack with Nikola Jokic patrolling the paint. In order to win the game, the Knicks will need a big night out of Brunson. Life will be tough for Karl-Anthony Towns trying to compete with Jokic on both ends of the floor. Brunson will need to hit shots from the perimeter and get into the lane and draw fouls. Brunson often rises to the occasion when the Knicks need him in big games. He has gone over this number this season in games against the Nuggets, Spurs, Pistons, Celtics, Cavaliers and Raptors, among many others. Jalen Brunson should once again have a big night against the Nuggets, going over 26.5 points.
Nikola Jokic 3+ Made Three-Pointers (+181)
Nikola Jokic is a boom-or-bust player when it comes to his shooting from distance. For example, over his last two games combined, he has only one three-point attempt. However, he has games where he fires double-digit attempts from beyond the arc as well. In the matchup against the Knicks earlier this season, that was one of those nights. Jokic attempted 13 three-pointers in that game against the Knicks, although he only made one. He is a streaky shooter from deep, but when he gets hot, he will knock a few down. Most recently, he hit four three-pointers in a big home win over the Celtics. That was part of a three-game streak where he made at least three three-pointers in each game.
The Knicks struggle to defend the perimeter at times. New York is a top-five team in the NBA in terms of points per game allowed, but ranks 20th in three-pointers allowed per game. New York has a pair of seven-footers, Mitchell Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns, who are scary to attack at the rim. However, Towns in particular massively struggles to get out to the three-point line defensively. While Robinson is a much better defender than Towns, he prefers to stay in the paint. Those Knicks big men will give Jokic open looks from beyond the arc, which is why he attempted 13 of them last time they faced. If he has a more solid shooting night this time around, he should easily knock down at least three three-pointers.