NBA Player Props & Picks: Bet Ja Morant & Lauri Markkanen

The Thursday night NBA schedule features four games, including a clash between two superstar players, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant.

There are plenty of opportunities to cash in on a few player props.

We'll be using the Action Labs Player Prop tool to compare our NBA projections to the props posted at a variety of sportsbooks. Below, I have laid out two prop bets that I'm playing, the case for each bet and the best books to find odds on those player props.

NBA Player Props & Picks

Bucks vs.

Grizzlies

Ja Morant Over 14.5 Rebounds + Assists (+100)

Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies welcome the Milwaukee Bucks to town tonight.

The Bucks will be without their best perimeter defender in Jrue Holiday, who is dealing with an illness. As a result, I expect Morant to have a big night filling up the stat sheet.

As great of a scorer as Morant is, he's been racking up the stats with his ability to rebound and dish out assists. In fact, Morant is averaging 6.6 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game this season. However, those numbers are increasing in home games, where he's averaging 7.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists.

Furthermore, Morant has gone over this projection in four out of the last six games. Also, Morant has gone over this projection in two of four career games against the Milwaukee Bucks, including an outing where he recorded a triple-double.

I like this number all the way up to 15.5.

Pelicans vs.

Jazz

Lauri Markkanen Over 7.5 Rebounds (-113)

Lauri Markkanen is having an incredible season thus far for the Utah Jazz. It's been so incredible that he's now the third favorite to win the Most Improved Player award. Markkanen is averaging 22.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.

The Utah Jazz will be facing the New Orleans Pelicans for a second game in a row tonight.

Despite being a great rebounding team, the Pelicans have slid from being the eighth-best rebounding team down to No. 19 over the last five games. In their previous matchup versus the Pelicans, Markkanen grabbed 11 total boards.

Furthermore, Markkanen is averaging 9.6 rebounds over his last five games.

Additionally, Markkanen has gone over this projection in four out of his last six games.

Thus far this season, the Pelicans are allowing opposing power forwards to grab 11.2 rebounds per game and opposing centers to grab 16.5 rebounds an evening.

I like this number up to 8.5.