There are only three Sundays left in the NBA regular season, and there is still plenty of playoff positioning to be finalized in both conferences. We have a robust nine-game all-day slate in the Association today, and we’re focusing on three big men that are pivotal to their teams’ postseason aspirations.
Accordingly, here are a trio of player props involving those stars to consider for Sunday’s action (odds listed are best at time of writing, bets listed should be available at multiple sportsbooks).
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Bam Adebayo, C, Miami Heat (at Indiana Pacers)
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Over 32.5 Points + Rebounds (-118 on FanDuel Sportsbook)
Adebayo made history earlier this month with his unforgettable 83-point night against the Washington Wizards, and his matchup Sunday is nearly as enticing. The big man comes into the road clash against the Pacers running hot as well, even beyond that record-setting night. Adebayo has averaged 21.4 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals over his last seven games per RotoWire, despite shooting an atypically poor 37.6% in that sample.
The matchup against the Pacers’ permeable frontcourt raises expectations for one of Bam’s higher-percentile performances on the scoreboard and the glass, given Indiana has allowed 39.8 points + rebounds to centers in the last seven games, per FantasyPros. Additionally, the Pacers are conceding the eighth-highest offensive efficiency rating to the position, per Hoops Stats, and Indy has surrendered an NBA-high 55.6 points in the paint per game as well.
Adebayo is recording just over 45.3% of his scoring in the paint, per NBA.com, and he’s converting an impressive 65.1% of his 15.1 rebounding chances per game. Finally, it’s worth noting Norman Powell could sit out Sunday’s game due to back spasms, and Adebayo is averaging 35.4 points + rebounds per 36 minutes with the star wing off the floor this season.
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Donovan Clingan, C, Portland Trail Blazers (vs. Washington Wizards)
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Over 13.5 Rebounds (-115 on Fanatics Sportsbook)
Clingan has turned into an absolute force on the glass down the stretch, as the second-year big man is averaging 13.2 rebounds per contest in the 14 games he’s played thus far in March, per RotoWire. Clingan has eclipsed this prop in six of those contests, and he’s come just one board short on three other occasions. Sunday, he gets a golden opportunity to make it 7-for-15 in March versus a Wizards team that he ripped down 20 rebounds against back on Jan. 27.
Washington has been the most vulnerable team to centers all season long, with the Wizards surrendering an NBA-high 16.5 rebounds per game to the position on the season, including 17.6 per contest in the last seven games, per FantasyPros. The Wizards are also yielding an NBA-high 38.6 offensive efficiency rating to centers, along with a league-high 28.8% offensive rebounding rate per road game, according to Team Rankings.
Clingan is converting 56.1% of his robust 20.9 rebounding chances per game per NBA.com, and he’s averaging an elevated 4.6 offensive rebounds per contest, which dovetails well with the Wizards’ aforementioned weakness in that area. Then, Washington is shooting a relatively average 46% on the road, so there should also be a fair amount of opportunities on the defensive glass for Clingan to help him cash this prop for the 25th time this season.
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Kristaps Porzingis, C, Golden State Warriors (at Denver Nuggets)
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Over 24.5 Points + Rebounds (-124 on DraftKings Sportsbook)
Porzingis has managed to finally enjoy a multi-game stretch of good health and has taken advantage of the opportunity, averaging 18.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per contest over the last eight games, per RotoWire. He’s averaged a modest 23.3 minutes per game in that span, although he’s encouragingly logged between 27 and 29 minutes in each of the last three contests.
Porzingis has cashed this prop in three of the last six games, with two of those occasions coming within the last three contests. Sunday presents another opportunity for the big man to approximate – if not hit – the 30-minute mark, as the Nuggets are a formidable challenge as a large home favorite. Meanwhile, Golden State, which is on a three-game winning streak, has a chance to continue climbing the Play-In Tournament level of the standings and potentially still get as high as the No. 7 seed.
The Nuggets are allowing a Western Conference-high 29.2 points per game to centers over the last seven games, along with 14.2 rebounds per contest to the position in that same span. Denver is also conceding 54.8% shooting, including 37.4% from behind the arc, to centers on the season per Hoops Stats, and the Nuggets have given up the fifth-most opponent free-throw attempts per game in the last three (30.0), per Team Rankings. Then, Golden State’s implied team total has already climbed three points to 113.75 since the open and could rise further leading up to tipoff, furthering the case for this prop.