Welcome back for another PrizePicks NBA Wednesday!
We’re already at the point in the season where the injury report looks like a CVS receipt.
Stars such as Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey and Trae Young won’t be playing Wednesday, while some more names popped up with battle wounds Tuesday.
Let’s dive in and find some winners.
Here are three players to target Wednesday.
DeMar DeRozan (Bulls vs. Jazz) more than 24.5 points
The Jazz might be fun to watch, but they can’t stop the nosebleed this season.
Utah is playing at the league’s fourth-fastest pace and owns the NBA’s worst defensive efficiency mark over the last 10 games.
The Jazz will be without Lauri Markkanen on Wednesday, which is another excuse for this game to be more competitive. In fact, the Bulls are road favorites in this one.
DeRozan had a slow-ish start to the season, but he’s eclipsed this number in seven of his last 11 games played across the last 30 days.
Nowadays, he rarely has elite usage since the emergence of teammate Coby White, but this game environment should be fantastic for points.
The Bulls play at the second-slowest pace in the league, so this is a huge pace-up scenario for them.
Deni Avdija (Magic vs. Wizards) more than 23.5 points + rebounds
Avdija has finally been unleashed with the Wizards over the last mont, with Jordan Poole moved to a bench role and Daniel Gafford shipped out at the trade deadline.
He’s averaging 20.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per 36 minutes over the last 30 days. Deni played a tick more than 33 minutes per game in February.
Avdija’s also been a beast on the glass lately.
He averages 11.4 rebound chances and 6.7 rebounds per game across the entire season, but across the team’s last 10 games (he played in seven), those numbers have surged to a team-leading 17 rebound chances and 10 boards per contest.
It’s far from a perfect matchup against a slow, solid-defensive team in Orlando, but the market is still too low on Avdija’s growing role with Washington.
Buddy Hield (Grizzlies vs. 76ers) less than 13.5 Points
This number seems just about right.
But Kyle Lowry’s role has grown exponentially in the past week, and that has slashed Hield’s playing time.
Even with Tyrese Maxey absent Tuesday, Hield only managed 28 minutes.
Buddy played the first portion of the fourth quarter, but Nick Nurse opted to go with Kelly Oubre and Nic Batum to close the game.
Betting on the NBA?
- Check out the best NBA betting sites
- Read our guide on how to bet on basketball
- Get the latest NBA Championship odds
- Use the North Carolina betting apps
Lowry has ramped up to 35.5 minutes across the last three games, and it seems that has been at Hield’s expense.
Hield played at least 32 minutes in six of his eight February games as a Sixer, but he has played no more than 32 in each of his last three appearances in March since Nurse decided to heavily incorporate Lowry.
There is no doubt that he can get hot and blow this thing out of the water, but I’m worried about his playing time – especially if Wednesday’s game is a blowout.