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Best NBA Player Props Today: Predictions for Julius Randle, Walker Kessler on Wednesday

Julius Randle and Walker Kessler are both on teams that have underachieved so far this year, but these two stats show why they're in great spots on Wednesday night.

By Gage Bridgford

Julius Randle dribbles the basketball
Julius Randle dribbles the basketball / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
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After taking a few days off to start the week, we’re back with two plays for tonight’s nine-game slate. The first will be targeting Julius Randle of the Minnesota Timberwolves against the Dallas Mavericks. For our second play, we’re targeting third-year center Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz as they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Well, it was a weird and unfortunate night that resulted in an 0-2 performance for us last week. For the first time this season, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored more than 23 points against the Toronto Raptors. Not only that, he scored 35 points while attempting 20 shots and 18 free throws. He had 20 shots and 14 free throws combined in their first two meetings. In the Jalen Williams world, it looked as though we got a blessing from the betting gods when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was ruled out Friday afternoon. Instead, that seemed to hurt Williams rather than help him. He went 1-for-6 with only four points in the first half against the Dallas Mavericks, and he finished with 19 while struggling all night from the floor. 

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NBA Best Bet Today

  • Julius Randle 6+ Assists (+190) - .75 Units FanDuel
  • Walker Kessler O0.5 Double-Doubles (+200) - .5 Units Bet365

Julius Randle 6+ Assists (+190) FanDuel

Our first play is targeting Julius Randle from Minnesota. The veteran forward has been a bit up and down this year with the Timberwolves, but he’s seen a significant improvement in his passing as of late. After averaging just 3.9 assists per game in November, Randle is averaging 4.9 assists per game over the last two months, and he’s cleared this line in each of his last three games. Randle has hit this mark only 15 times this season, but 11 of those have come in the last 17 games he’s played.

Additionally, in two games against the Mavericks this season, Randle has seven and eight assists with those games coming a month and a half apart earlier in the season. In the first 26 games of the year, Randle was averaging 7.5 potential assists per game. That number jumps to 8.8 over the last 17 and 11.7 over his last three. The Mavericks are in the middle of the pack at allowing assists to opposing power forwards, but Randle has been turning up the dial with his playmaking recently. It can continue tonight.

Walker Kessler O0.5 Double-Doubles (+200) Bet365

This game scares me at first glance with the Utah Jazz being 17.5-point underdogs. Despite that, this is a great spot for Kessler. Kessler had 17 points and 11 rebounds against OKC, and he’s turned in double-doubles in seven of his last 10 games. In the three games he went under, two of them came against teams that ranked 2nd and 5th in points allowed to centers. Now, he is matched up with the Thunder, who are playing their third-string center in Jaylin Williams following the injury to Isaiah Hartenstein. 

In three games following Hartenstein’s injury, the Thunder gave up 13 points and seven rebounds in only 16 minutes to Jarrett Allen. On a team stacked with guards, Daniel Gafford and eight points and six rebounds in 20 minutes. In 25 minutes of a blowout, Nic Claxton had 11 points and five rebounds. They’re small inside. Kessler can take advantage of that in a big way as long as they keep the game close. OKC are allowing the 2nd-most points per game to centers over their last seven games, and, while Utah hasn’t done a ton of winning recently, they haven’t lost a game by double-digits with Kessler in the lineup since December 16th.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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