Saturday’s Best NBA Player Props: Betting Luka Doncic Assists, More

Saturday’s best NBA player props focus on two of the slate’s eight games:

• Dallas Mavericks at Indiana Pacers: 7 p.m. ET
• Los Angeles Lakers at Houston Rockets: 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC

As a reminder, you can dig deeper on these and many other prop bets by using our FantasyLabs NBA Player Props Tool. It leverages our projections against five of the most popular online sportsbooks and grades each prop on a scale of one to 10.

Mavs G/F Luka Doncic

The Pick: Over six assists (-149)

The Mavericks are down their top two point guards options on today’s slate, albeit for entirely different reasons. JJ Barea was forced to undergo season-ending surgery after injuring his Achilles, while Dennis Smith Jr. is basically in exile while the Mavs try to negotiate a trade for him.

Doncic has served as the team’s primary distributor with both players off the court, increasing his assist rate by +7.2% and averaging 7.3 assists per 36 minutes. He handed out eight dimes in his last game and has averaged 7.7 assists per 36 minutes in three games with both players out of the lineup.

This prop is already juiced pretty high, but it still offers some value at the current number. It stops looking like a value around -175.

Rockets F P.J. Tucker

The Pick: Over seven rebounds (-125)

The Rockets are dealing with a host of injuries at the moment, but none is more important than Clint Capela's. He’s been the Rockets' only reliable center option this season, and his absence has had a big effect on their rotation.

Nene is limited to just 15-20 minutes per game at the moment, and the newly acquired Kenneth Faried will be unavailable to make his debut in today’s contest.

When Nene is off the court, the Rockets have chosen to play a really small lineup, using Tucker at the center position. He pulled down 10 rebounds in his most recent contest, and he should continue to see increased numbers in that department as long as Capela is out of the lineup.

The Rockets are also in a big pace up spot vs. the Lakers, so this game should feature more possessions than usual for the Houston players.

The combination of matchup and injuries makes this the highest rated bet in the Player Prop tool. I like the over up to -160.