Clark ‘Caps: Dame Time vs. the Mavericks tonight

NBA’s Valentine’s Day slate is headlined by a matchup of MVP contenders when Damian Lillard’s Portland Trail Blazers meet Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks and LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers visit Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets for a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals. Here are a couple of NBA player prop predictions to consider Sunday.

Sunday’s NBA player prop bet predictions 

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Portland Trail Blazers Damian Lillard OVER 31.5 points (-105)

Whichever point guard comes out the winner — both by team- and individual-performance — between Dame and Luka will be considered the more legitimate MVP candidate.

Dame is regarded as one of the most competitive hoopers in the Association and you know Luka being in his third season and already more hyped than Lillard motivates Dame. Aside from that angle, Dame has done WORK against the Mavericks in recent seasons.

Lillard scored a career-high 61 points vs. Dallas in the bubble and has outscored Luka 108-52 in their last two meetings. Over his last eight games vs. Luka and the Mavs, Dame is 37.4 points per on 49.7% shooting (42.5% from three) and has scored 32 or more in six of those games.

Dallas adding defensive guard Josh Richardson this offseason doesn’t help much either because Dame has given him the business recently as well. Dame dropped 51 points on Richardson in Bubble two days prior to scoring 61 on the Luka and averages 32.0 points on 49.5% shooting in eight career games vs. Richardson.

Given how high-profile this matchup is, I don’t think this plays that much of a factor in the overall production, however, the Trail Blazers being without two starters probably ups Dame’s usage rate. It’s as square as a prop pick gets, but it’s going to be Dame Time on Valentine’s Day.

Also see: Trail Blazers at Mavericks odds, picks and prediction

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Charlotte Hornets PG LaMelo Ball UNDER 33.5 points, rebounds & assists (-120)

The Charlotte Hornets host the San Antonio Spurs Sunday and, while the basketball community loves what they’ve seen out of Ball thus far, now is a good sell-high point for Ball’s production.

San Antonio have the 10th-best defensive rating as a team and an above-average defensive backcourt aided by elite rim protection behind them. The Spurs give up a combined 33 points, rebounds and assists per game to opposing shooting guards and Ball only averages 26.6 “PRA” per game.

Furthermore, Charlotte’s projected starting lineup has four ballhandlers because of the doubtful status of PF P.J. Washington, which could keep the ball out of LaMelo’s hands for extended stretches. It also helps four of the last five Spurs-Hornets games have gone Under the total and both teams are below-average in effective field goal shooting.

Also see: Spurs at Hornets odds, picks and prediction

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