Tyrese Maxey and Paolo Banchero headline Monday's NBA prop picks.
Tonight's NBA props narrative: Maxey has established himself as an upper-echelon scorer and should feast tonight with Joel Embiid and Paul George sidelined for the Philadelphia 76ers. Elsewhere, Banchero is worth fading on the second leg of a home-and-home against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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Check out these NBA prop picks for Jan. 26, featuring a pick on Minnesota Timberwolves centre Rudy Gobert.
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NBA prop picks Jan. 26
Best bet: Maxey 4+ threes (-103)
This is my preferred way to back Maxey, because I think his 31.5 point total is a tad too steep.
Why? Defensive menace Ryan Kalkbrenner will be patrolling the paint for the Charlotte Hornets, and I don't think attacking the basket repeatedly against the 7-footer is a good recipe for success.
Maxey is a great 3-point shooter, anyway, and Charlotte has the seventh-worst 3-point defence in the NBA (36.9%).
- Maxey is averaging a career-high 3.5 threes on 8.9 attempts per game (39.2%).
- He has hit 4+ threes in 10 of 19 games without Embiid this season (also 10-9 vs. this line without George).
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Philly's point guard is also playing an NBA-high 39.5 minutes a night, meaning he will have ample opportunities to let it fly in what should be a close game.
Charlotte is a 3-point home favourite at the time of writing, and Maxey cleared this line against the Hornets back in October when he shot 4-of-9 from deep in a 125-121 win.
Key stat: Maxey is shooting 44.0% from 3-point range on the road this season.
Best NBA picks
Banchero under 23.5 points (-125): Banchero is having his best scoring month of the year, but he's still performing well below last year's baseline.
- The forward is averaging 23.2 points on 48.2% shooting in January, going 5-5 against this line.
- On the season, Banchero is averaging 21.1 PPG with a 45.5 FG% (96th in NBA).
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Banchero did have 27 points against the Cavaliers in Orlando on Saturday, but he made just seven field goals and cashed in 10 points at the line.
I'm not sure he'll get such a favourable whistle in Cleveland with reigning DPOY Evan Mobley guarding him all night.
Banchero is averaging 21.4 PPG on 34.5% shooting in his last five regular season games against the Cavs.
NBA player prop predictions
Gobert over 11.5 rebounds (-141): I backed Gobert to clear this number against the Golden State Warriors last night, and the Frenchman had one of the worst games of his season:
- 24 minutes, 4 points, 5 rebounds
Now, Gobert has a chance for redemption against the same Warriors team. I say he delivers.
Golden State's only player above 6-foot-7 in its rotation is Quinten Post, and the sophomore centre averages more 3-point attempts (4.4) than rebounds (4.0).
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Unsurprisingly, the Warriors give up the fifth-most rebounds per game to centres.
Gobert is averaging the second most rebounds (11.2) and was 14-6 against this line in his last 20 games before Sunday.
I won't let one bad game steer me away from a strong matchup.
NBA prop picks made at 9 a.m. ET on Jan. 26, 2026.
