Keagan Smith details his best NBA player prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for Monday’s game between the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers.
At 10 p.m. EST on Monday night, Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers welcome the New York Knicks to town for an inter-conference clash. While L.A. is still holding on for dear life in the search for a Play-In Tournament berth, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns’ visiting team remains well in the hunt for a top spot in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket.
DraftKings Sportsbook lists New York as a 2.5-point favorite on the road with -135 odds to win on the Moneyline. The game total is set at 219.5 combined points.
Here are the top Knicks vs. Clippers prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for this matchup.
Best Knicks vs. Clippers player prop bets
Bennedict Mathurin 17+ points (-108)
Trading away a talented center like Ivica Zubac was a tough sell for the Clippers’ fanbase, especially after a winning streak that essentially saved their season. However, Bennedict Mathurin has been quite solid in the scoring column since making his debut with the team. The 23-year-old wing is producing 18.4 PPG in 29.3 minutes a night, pulling down a career-best 6.4 rebounds to boot. While his efficiency marks haven’t impressed by any means with a 41.3% FG% and an abhorrent 15.8% 3P%, there have certainly been some exciting moments and glimpses of what could be over his 11 contests in Los Angeles.
The matchup against the Knicks is a difficult one given that New York ranks sixth in DEFRTG and has a couple of standout defenders on the wing between OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges. However, the volume that Mathurin sees on 14.1 FGA a game, second-most among Clippers players, means that he has a decent shot to get to his points prop on any given night even between the poor matchup and shooting splits. Mathurin has recorded at least 17 points in six of his nine contests since the All-Star Break with four outings of 20+ points and a 38-point explosion over this span. He should play a key role tonight as a volume scorer.
Jalen Brunson under 24.5 points (-113)
I hate to fade Jalen Brunson to an extent, especially with the guard once again playing a key role for a Knicks squad that has a legitimate shot to make real noise in the postseason. He hasn’t played exceedingly well lately though, with some lower-scoring nights a common occurrence since the All-Star break. Yes, Brunson posts 26.2 PPG this season, but that mark sits at only 21.8 PPG over his 10 appearances since action resumed after the break. The interesting part is that his shooting splits haven’t massively regressed into a cold streak either — while a 42.9% FG% is 3.5 percentage points lower than his season-long average, he’s actually shooting slightly better from three as of late.
However, Brunson has taken 2.5 fewer shots a game during this span than he has over the full season’s average of 20.0 FGA. That’s played a little bit of a role in this scoring regression in recent weeks, and a matchup with the Clippers may prove tough as well to begin with. They allow the ninth-fewest PPG to opponents and rank 11th in opponent FG%. With this mini-slump going on, I just don’t see Brunson shaking things off on night two of a back-to-back.