Happy Halloween! We have a small three-game NBA slate on this spooky Taco Tuesday. The Knicks will visit Cleveland to take on the depleted Cavaliers on TNT while the Spurs take on Kevin Durant and the Suns in the night cap. The Clippers are also in action and will be without a number of players after the big trade news early this morning announcing they acquired James Harden from the Sixers. There could be some good value in that game for us to attack so keep an eye on the board for new projections as they pop up. It can be hard to choose the right PrizePicks NBA player projections, so let’s break this slate down to find the best ones.
PrizePicks NBA Player Predictions | Oct. 31
Donovan Mitchell M/L 9.5 3PT-Attempted
The Cavaliers will host the New York Knicks tonight as 3.5-point underdogs at home. The reason? They will play a second consecutive game down two starters as Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen are both out with injuries. There is a low total for this game at 212.5 as both teams ranked in the bottom five in pace last season while the Knicks are top-10 in defensive rating this season. However, this has no negative impact on Donovan Mitchell’s shot attempts.
Mitchell is projected to score 31.5 points with 3.5 3PT-makes. In nine games without Darius Garland in 2023 he averaged 10.6 3PT attempts and shot 11 of them last game against the Thunder. More specifically in his last six regular season games against the Knicks he’s averaging 11.5 3PT attempts. Stokastic has Mitchell projected for 37.1 minutes tonight while he’s averaging 39 per game this season. Mitchell has a 34.1 usage% without Garland on the floor.
Best PrizePicks NBA Player Prediction: Donavan Mitchell More Than 9.5 3PT Attempted
Grayson Allen M/L 20.5 Fantasy Score
Grayson Allen might be my least favorite NBA player and selecting more on this fantasy score sounds pretty scary especially on Halloween but all the data is saying its the right move, and I agree. The Suns are hosting the San Antonio Spurs in a game I don’t want to miss with Victor Wembenyama going up against Kevin Durant. With Bradley Beal and Devin Booker both ruled out for this game Allen will have a significant role with big minutes. Projected to play 33 minutes tonight, he’s played 35 and 31 the last two games. Allen is a low usage guy at 13% and is averaging just .72 fantasy points per minute without Booker on the floor but the opportunity tonight is too good to pass up.
The Suns have the highest implied team total at 115.75 and with Durant getting all the attention of the defense, Allen will get plenty of open looks. He’s recored 19.2 and 29.3 fantasy scores in the last two games without Booker. Stokastic projections have Allen at 22.17 fantasy points tonight.
Best PrizePicks NBA Player Prediction: Grayson Allen More Than 20.5 Points
Jalen Brunson M/L 5 Assists
Jalen Brunson has done well against the Cavaliers averaging 6 assists in his last four games. His first three games this season he recored 6, 5, 5. While historical data is a nice stat to help make a decision its not one to go off of alone. What’s important here is that Jarrett Allen is out for the Cavs making this defense much less scary. Brunson’s projection is 5.5 around the industry and the Cavaliers have allowed the second most assists to opponents (29.3) per, NBA.com. More specifically, they have allowed 18 assists per game to guards, also second most.
Brunson is averaging 57 passes a game with 11 potential assists, both tops on the Knicks. His 26.9 usage% is also best on the team. Brunson goes for more assists tonight.
Best PrizePicks NBA Player Prediction: Jalen Brunson More than 5 Assists
Jusuf Nurkic M/L 7.5 Rebounds (Taco)
The active taco on PrizePicks is Jusuf Nurkic Rebounds listed at 7.5 discounted from 9.5. The tacos don’t always hit as we saw with Jimmy Butler’s last night but generally they are positive EV, and I can confirm this one is. OddsShopper’s Pick’em Plays lists this stat with a 39% EV rating and a 75% xWIN rating. Nurkic averages 8.6 rebounds per game for his career and has not averaged less than nine rebounds per game since 2017. Pair this taco with any of the above plays in a power play for flex play.
Best PrizePicks NBA Player Prediction: Jusuf Nurkic More than 7.5 Rebounds
Two-pick power plays and five-pick flex plays have the best expected value. If you’re looking for more picks check out our PrizePicks Optimizer.
