There are only six games on today’s NBA schedule, but the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder will showcase plenty of star power.

My NBA picks for Sunday, December 29th include Trae Young continuing to dish out dimes, Jayson Tatum continuing to shoot threes, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander turning in another high-scoring performance.

The best NBA player props today

The selection will take place on December 29th. at 1:00 p.m. ET.

NBA player props for December 29th

Prop Bet #1: Trae Young over 11.5 assists

-116 at bet365

The Atlanta Hawks were just a 1-point favorite over the Toronto Raptors today, but I think that’s where Trae Young and his team come up a little short. The star point guard is averaging an NBA-best 12.2 assists per game as the Hawks seek their fourth straight win.

Young has collected at least 13 dimes in three of his last four games and has averaged 12.8 assists over that span. He also has at least 10 assists in eight of 10 games this month.

I like his chances of racking up over 11.5 assists today against a Raptors team that really slipped on defense. Toronto is in the midst of a nine-game losing streak, coming off a terrible 155-126 loss to the Grizzlies.

The Raptors are allowing 118.5 points per game this season – the fifth-worst mark in the league – and that number has increased to 123.6 during their losing streak.

The Hawks, who rank eighth in points per game (117.3) and have scored more than 117 points in three straight games, should be able to improve their scoring against the Raptors. That means Young should have plenty of opportunity to spend pennies.

Prop Bet #2: Jayson Tatum Made more than 3.5 threes

-120 at bet365

It’s been three rains all season for Jayson Tatum, and I hope that trend continues when the Boston Celtics welcome the Indiana Pacers to TD Garden tonight.

Tatum ranks third in 3-point attempts per game this year (10.5) and fifth in 3-point attempts per game (3.9) – both big jumps from his averages in 2023- 24 (3:1-8:2).

The Celtics forward has missed at least four treys in three of his last four games and came up just short against the Pacers on Friday, going 3-for-10 from distance.

The Pacers haven’t been particularly good at defending the three, as they rank 19th in the league in opponent 3-point percentage (36.6%). Indiana gave up a whopping 23 treys on 56 attempts to the Celtics in Boston’s dominant 142-105 win on Friday.

Although Tatum only made 30% of his shots from distance in this game, I like his chances of getting at least four tonight if he keeps up his high-volume approach, as he is converting over 37% of his attempts this year.

Prop Bet #3: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Over 31.5 points

-111 at bet365

The Oklahoma City Thunder sit comfortably atop the Western Conference standings with a 25-5 record and 10 straight regular-season wins, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been a big reason for that success.

The point guard is tied with Nikola Jokic for second place this season (30.8), just behind Giannis Antetokounmpo (32.7). However, in December, SGA was even better, taking the top spot with 32.5 points per contest.

Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 30 points in 13 of his last 18 games and is just two games shy of his season-high of 45 points against the Pacers, marking his second consecutive outing with 40-plus points.

The Grizzlies are no easy task for SGA and the Thunder as they sit in second place in the West, but Memphis has done damage on offense rather than containing it on defense.

Memphis leads the NBA with 124 points per game but is allowing 115.8 points per contest – 21st in the league – and has averaged 125 points in its last two games.

Gilgeous-Alexander accounts for nearly 30% of his team’s points, so he should have another big night if the Grizzlies want to make this a battle between the offenses.

NBA odds today

Here are the complete NBA odds for all of today’s matchups.

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