Today’s NBA Player Prop Picks: Durant, McCollum, Bogdanovic Provide More Treats Than Tricks

It's eerie and quiet — some would even say spooky — in the NBA schedule this Halloween Sunday, with only five games on the slate.

But we're avoiding all the ghoulish tricks and only providing tasty treats... in the form of the best NBA player prop values to make some quick cash betting on the hardwood.

So whether you're masquerading as a superhero, scary creature, or survivor in a Squid Game, we're not dressing up our favorite NBA player props for Sunday, October 31.

NBA player props for October 31

• McCollum Over 21.5 points (-110)
• Bogdanovic Over 2.5 made threes (+110)
• Durant Over 27.5 points (-108)

Picks made on 10/31/2021 at 12:36 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.

Buzzin' for points

Fans of defense will surely be in for a fright tonight when the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Charlotte Hornets.

Charlotte currently leads the NBA with 117.5 points per game, with Portland checking in at sixth with 113.6 ppg, while the Hornets also give up the fourth-most ppg defensively (115.7). Add in that both sides are also in the Top 5 in pace, so we're expecting this to be a good old-fashioned track meet on Sunday night, with these guard-heavy teams seeing their backcourts pour in the points.

While Damian Lillard tends to hog the spotlight in Portland, we're actually looking at his backcourt mate, C.J. McCollum, to bring us some treats this evening. Through five games McCollum actually leads the Blazers with 24.2 points per contest, with that number dragged down by two matchups against the defensively-stout Clippers (where he scored 20 and 14 points).

Against the sieve-like Hornets, we like McCollum and Dame to thrive, but with C.J.'s point total sitting at just 21.5 (compared to 27.5 for Lillard) it's a no-brainer that this is the Portland guard to back tonight.

Pick: C.J. McCollum Over 21.5 points (-120 at bet365)

Going for the good stuff

Utah Jazz wing Bojan Bogdanovic is off to a slow start this year, averaging 16.6 points per game and shooting just 32.1 percent from beyond the 3-point line — well below his career 39.2-percent average and his 40 percent clip he's been hitting in 2+ seasons with the Jazz.

Bogdanovic is also shooting fewer threes, attempting just 5.6 per game after taking 7.3 and 6.4 per contest the last two seasons, but we have reason to believe he'll dress up as the old Bojan tonight against the Bucks.

Milwaukee is missing three key players — Brook Lopez, Jrue Holiday, and Donte DiVencenzo — the latter two being two of the Bucks' best perimeter defenders. Donovan Mitchell is the top dog in Utah, but with point guard Mike Conley questionable to play, Mitchell may be forced to play in a slightly more playmaking role — drawing the attention of Milwaukee's top remaining defenders and creating open looks for the likes of Bogdanovic, who should be able to find open shots against weaker and less experienced defenders.

Bogdanovic hasn't hit three triples in a game yet so far, but with a favorable matchup and plus-money value, this is a trick we're hopefully going to find out is a treat after all.

Pick: Bojan Bogdanovic Over 2.5 made threes (+110 at FanDuel)

Do fear the reaper

We couldn't not feature Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant — aptly nicknamed "The Slim Reaper" — in a Halloween version of our NBA props.

While the nickname alone validates this pick, it's also supported by the fact that Durant is a bad mamma-jamma — and Detroit has a tendency to get torched by the opposing team's star player.

In five games this year, the 1-4 Pistons have been lit up by Zach Lavine for 34 points, Trae Young went off for 32, and Joel Embiid dropped 30. Enter Durant, who currently is third in the NBA at 28.5 ppg and ready to feast on Detroit at home.

The Pistons should be very scary of going into the Reaper's lair on Halloween night... but we're not scared of backing him to top his point total.

Pick: Kevin Durant Over 27.5 points (-108 at FanDuel)

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