May 1st NBA Props – Best Player Prop Bets for Saturday Night Games

• There are 10 games on the NBA schedule for Saturday
• Steph Curry, Zion Williamson and Nikola Jokic are just three of the superstars in action
• Which player prop bets represent the best betting value?

Saturday is a busy day in the NBA with 10 games on the slate.

Looking to improve their play-in positioning, the Golden State Warriors matchup with the Houston Rockets with Steph Curry battling Bradley Beal for the scoring title. Another game with play-in implications in both conferences, Beal’s Wizards face the Dallas Mavericks, who are looking to avoid the lottery of the tournament.

To wrap up the night’s action, there’s a rematch of the bubble’s postseason epic between the Nuggets and Clippers. The Clips could yet move into the top two in the Western Conference, avoiding the risk of a first-round series with the Lakers.

Let’s take a look at the props available, with odds courtesy FanDuel.

NBA Player Props – May 1st

Odds as of May 1

Playmaking Zion

Zion Williamson averages just 3.9 assists per game since the All-Star break. This is less than Tobias Harris, Coby White and Pascal Siakam. That’s an unspectacular average, but it’s largely down to inconsistency in Williamson’s assist numbers. He is still running a lot of pick-and-roll, as he has for several months now, but his reliance on shot-making from his teammates is obvious.

We now have the league-leading 38th game this season where Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson have each scored at least 20 points.

The next best duo – Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum – have 30 such games this season.

(@ESPNStatsInfo)

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) April 30, 2021

Williamson is at 7.5 potential assists per game in the second half of the year, and the streakiness of the Pelicans’ shooting means his dimes tend to come in bunches. He recorded five against the Clippers and six against the Thunder, but zero against the Nuggets. This isn’t a result of Williamson’s role changing, but a reflection of his teammates missing shots and the impressive defense of the Nuggets.

There has been defensive improvements from the Timberwolves of late, who face Williamson on Saturday. They are playing their best basketball of the year. Still, though, they are 28th in defensive rating since the All-Star break. Josh Okogie and Jaden McDaniels are good defenders, yet both will struggle with Williamson’s physicality.

Zion Williamson could miss his next 216 shots and he would still shoot better than 50% this season.

🤯 pic.twitter.com/36yUmwiOAt

— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 25, 2021

Across his last 13 games, the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft has registered four or more assists on nine occasions. With the T-Wolves playing better, this game should be close enough for Zion to play big fourth quarter minutes. Hitting this assists over is an easy bet.

Pick: Zion Williamson over 3.5 assists (-150)

No Answer for MPJ

Michael Porter Jr is shooting 46.2% from three since the All-Star break. In Jamal Murray’s absence, Porter has stepped up as the second option on this Nuggets team. He averaged almost 24 points per game in April, more than Damian Lillard, Jimmy Butler and Russell Westbrook.

MPJ since Jamal Murray injury:

25.7 PPG
6.4 RPG
4.4 3PG

59.1 FG%
54.4 3P%
+72 +/-

The Nuggets are 6-1 in that span. pic.twitter.com/fu9qrnFXnS

— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 27, 2021

His usage rate has leapt from 19.4% in the first half to 23.4% since the break. The 8.1 boards per game is one of the best marks among non-centers. If it wasn’t for Julius Randle’s All-NBA caliber season, Porter would be getting some buzz for Most Improved Player. The step forward on defense has earned him minutes, and the shot-making talent has proven legitimate over a larger NBA sample size.

The Clippers’ defense is generally a tough matchup for anyone. That’s not been the case of late, however, with LA sitting 20th in defensive rating over the last five games. Denver was the fifth-best offense in the league in April, and while they miss Murray, Porter has delivered significantly, and begun to develop his two-man game with Nikola Jokic.

Michael Porter Jr. dropped a career-high 39 PTS (8 threes) last night 😳

He's averaging 18.2 PPG | 7.6 RPG this season

Future is bright for MPJ

(via @NBATV)pic.twitter.com/ssMiQONMWx

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 25, 2021

Porter has scored 24 or more in four of his last five games, including his 23-point effort against the Raptors a couple of days ago. The 14th overall pick in 2018 is one of the hottest players in the NBA right now – he’s a great bet to hit this points over.

Pick: Michael Porter Jr over 23.5 points (+100)