NBA player prop picks and predictions for Wednesday, Feb. 1

The football season may be winding down, but the NBA is just heating up. And we have a loaded slate tonight as 18 teams will take the court on Wednesday

Here are three player prop picks that stand out to us as good values during Wednesday’s action.

NBA player prop picks and predictions Wednesday, Feb. 1

Nic Claxton over 2.5 blocks (+145, Caesars Sportsbook)

Claxton is making a run at the Defensive Player of the Year award with his sensational defense for the Nets this season.

Brooklyn will need him to be at the top of his game tonight against one of the best offenses in basketball in the Celtics. Boston has allowed very few opponent blocks per game this season (3.8), but there’s too much juice on this line not to back one of the best shot-blockers in the league.

Claxton has had multiple rejections in 16 of his last 17 games, including a 12-game streak of three or more blocks, which was the third-longest such streak since 2000. Since Nov. 22, Claxton leads the NBA with 3.1 blocks per game.

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Less than three weeks ago, Claxton easily eclipsed this number with four blocks against the Celtics in just 32 minutes. The Nets will also need to play Claxton big minutes thanks to injuries to Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons, and T.J. Warren.

All Claxton needs to do is hit his average here — at plus money – it’s worth a shot.

Raptors vs. Jazz

Precious Achiuwa over 25.5 points+rebounds+assists (-108, Caesars Sportsbook)

Achiuwa has taken over the starting spot from OG Anunoby while he’s out with a wrist injury. And boy, has he taken advantage. The third-year big man has posted three straight double-doubles and five over his last six games, which includes four starts.

Achiuwa is averaging 17.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in about 34 minutes a game over that stretch. With Anunoby out for at least another week, Achiuwa will get another chance to start Wednesday night against the Jazz.

Utah will likely roll with rookie Walker Kessler at the center position, which should help Achiuwa rack up some solid rebounding numbers. Kessler rarely strays from the paint, so Achiuwa should stay near the basket as the rest of the Jazz lineup bombs away from three.

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On the other hand, if Kessler doesn’t play big minutes, Achiuwa should have his way in the paint on the offensive end. Kessler is one of the only Jazz players that’s capable of slowing down a prominent man of Achiuwa’s size.

Achiuwa is known to get into foul trouble from time to time, but if he can avoid that, he should easily pass this number.

Timberwolves vs. Warriors

Rudy Gobert over 12.5 rebounds (-106, Caesars Sportsbook)

Gobert has been a match-up nightmare for the notoriously small Warriors over the years.

In 14 games against Golden State since the 2018-19 season, Gobert is averaging 16.4 rebounds. He’s been consistent in putting up big board totals, too, going under 12.5 rebounds in just two of those 14 games.

In the past, the Warriors have tried to play Gobert off the court by going small and sitting Kevon Looney for long stretches. But that hasn’t worked out yet. In April 2022, Gobert grabbed 20 rebounds in 38, even though he was forced to guard the smaller Draymond Green while Looney played just 13 minutes. In March 2021, it was even uglier for Golden State when they tried this tactic. Gobert pulled down 28 rebounds that night, while Looney saw just 11 minutes of playing time.

The Warriors and Timberwolves are also two of the fastest teams in the NBA in terms of pace, so there should be plenty of back-and-forths for Gobert to pump up his rebounding totals.

Gobert has also seen a bit of an uptick in playing time since recovering from a groin injury earlier this month. The Frenchman has averaged 35.6 minutes per game in six games over that period.