Top NBA Prop Picks for Tuesday

A mini-slate is on tap tonight on the hardwood with just four games in action, but there still remain plenty of opportunities for NBA prop picks.

In what was expected to be a triumphant return to Madison Square Garden, the Los Angeles Lakers will be without LeBron James tonight as he serves his one-game suspension for the incident in Detroit on Sunday.

Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks will face off for the second time in three days, as both jockey for position in the West without their aces.

Here's a look at the top NBA player props for Tuesday's four-game schedule (Odds via DraftKings, pick confidence based on 1-to-5-star scale).

Top NBA Prop Picks

Tim Hardaway Jr. Over 16.5 points (-120)Jimmy Butler Over 22.5 points (-115)Jusuf Nurkic Over 10.5 points (-125)

SEE ALSO: Top NBA Parlay Picks for Tuesday

Top Prop Picks

Hardaway Jr. Over 16.5 points (-120)

Having just played one another two days ago, the Mavericks get another shot at the Clippers tonight after dropping a 97-91 game in which they controlled much of the action. With Luka Doncic out of the lineup, the Mavs needed a big game from Tim Hardaway Jr. that just never came.

The forward's red-hot November was certainly cooled as he went 2-for-12 from the field and 1-for-4 from the three, scoring just eight points on the night. In the three games leading up to it, however, Hardaway had scoring lines of 19, 22, and 18, making it eight out of his last 10 games in which he scored 16 points or more.

With Doncic out again, I like for Hardaway to get back to aggressively attacking the rim and eclipse 17 points for his NBA prop picks before it's all said and done.

Butler Over 22.5 points (-115)

Jimmy Butler was outspoken and critical after the Miami Heat blew a fourth-quarter lead in a loss to Washington on Saturday. His 29 points weren't enough as they relinquished the lead with two minutes left and lost to a fellow Eastern Conference contender.

Now they head to Detroit to take out their frustrations on a 4-12 Pistons team that will be without one of its best defenders in Isaiah Stewart. The Pistons let Russell Westbrook go for 26 points on Sunday in the defeat. They're averaging 108.3 points allowed per game.

I look for an aggressive Butler to get his and go well over the posted 22.5 points posted, clinching one of our top NBA prop picks.

Nurkic Over 10.5 points (-125)

Winners of three straight and four of five, the Portland Trail Blazers are starting to look like themselves again as first-year head coach Chauncey Billups is starting to get the best from his players. While Dame Lillard and CJ McCollum get much of the attention, I have my eye on big man Jusuf Nurkic in this one.

Scoring 11 or more in three of his last five, Nurkic is averaging 11.1 on the season and typically only struggles against the NBA's elite big men. In this one, however, the Nuggets will likely be without reigning MVP Nikola Jokic who is dealing with a sprained wrist and listed as questionable tonight.

Even if he does go, expect limited minutes and for Nurkic to be in attack mode with blood in the water in the form of The Joker's injury.

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NBA prop picks made on 11/23/2021 at 12:15 p.m. ET