Trail Blazers vs. Clippers: The best player prop bets for Nov. 9

Tonight’s game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the visiting Portland Trail Blazers should be a good one. After all, any time we get a showdown between Paul George and Damian Lillard it's cause for excitement. In addition to being electrifying talents capable of heating up in a flash, these two All-Stars have had an underrated rivalry going for a few years now. It's also a clash of styles, with the Blazers coming in as a top-ranked offense and the Clippers getting it done on defense.

Tonight’s game between LA and Portland tips at 10:00 p.m. ET, and we have the three best player prop bets below.

PAUL GEORGE OVER/UNDER 5.5 ASSISTS

Paul George is playing at an MVP level to begin the season. Through the Clippers' first 10 games, he is posting a stat line of 27.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 5.2 assists with an effective field goal percentage of 53.9%. He’s truly doing it all, and the year or two where he faced immense criticism for his inconsistent on-court performances seem like nothing more than a bad dream.

And while the scoring is impressive, it pales in comparison to his work as a playmaker. George has never had a natural passing aptitude, which makes his transformation into a floor general all the more impressive. He’s seen his assist rate increase year-over-year in LA from 20.5% to 23.9% to 27.0%, which puts him in the top 96th percentile among wings. George averaged 7.3 assists in each of the four Clippers’ victories on his way to Western Conference of the Week honors.

George’s transformation from wing stopper to on-ball scorer to full-on engine of an efficient offense is complete. And it’s a magnificent sight.

PICK: OVER 5.5 ASSISTS (-141)

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REGGIE JACKSON OVER/UNDER 3.5 3-POINTERS MADE

Reggie Jackson was one of the cult heroes of last year’s playoffs. He was on fire all year and seemed to always make the right decision when attacking opponent closeouts. So it’s been a bit of a disappointing start to the year for Jackson, who has struggled with his shot. He’s shooting just 33.7% from 3 and 37.5% overall, but has seen improvement over his last five games, with his shooting from deep rising to 37.2%.

There’s good reason to think that trend will continue tonight. The Trail Blazers are among the league's worst teams at guarding the 3-point line, both in terms of volume (22nd) and efficiency (24th). In all likelihood, Jackson will be covered by Lillard, who even on his good days is just not going to get over a ball screen with gusto. In an effort to tire Dame out on the offensive end, the Clippers will likely look to get Jackson going from distance and run Lillard ragged around the perimeter. That means more good looks for Reggie.

PICK: OVER 3.5 3-POINTERS MADE (+131)

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DAMIAN LILLARD OVER/UNDER 25.5 POINTS 

Lillard is in the worst shooting slump of his career. He’s posting by far his worst effective goal percentage at 41.5%, including 24.7% on 9.7 3-point attempts per game. It’s bizarre to say about one of the league's premier perimeter threats, but at his current combined efficiency and volume, he has been shooting the Blazers out of winnable games. And disturbingly, this slump has not been just limited to this regular season, Lillard also played some of the worst basketball of his career at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics this past summer.

Apparently, then and now, he’s been dealing with an abdominal injury, and though it’s admirable he chose to play in the summer, one wonders if he would have been better served committing to rest and rehab. It also appears that Lillard has been one of the stars most hurt by the change in officiating of non-basketball plays, seeing his free throw attempts nearly cut in half from 7.2 a game last season to 3.4 this year.

Facing the switch-heavy defense of the Clippers, it’s not likely that Dame Time will return tonight.

PICK: UNDER 25.5 POINTS (-113)