Best NBA prop picks Nov. 21: Back Derik Queen, Donovan Clingan and Anfernee Simons

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Check out Friday's top NBA prop picks! Photos by AP.

Friday's nine-game NBA Cup slate is loaded with prop betting opportunities.

Today's NBA props narrative: Derik Queen is having an impressive rookie campaign, and I'm backing him to do it all against the Dallas Mavericks. Elsewhere, Donovan Clingan should capitalize on a size advantage in San Francisco.

Check out my top NBA prop picks for Nov. 21, featuring a prediction on Boston Celtics shooting guard Anfernee Simons.

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NBA prop picks Nov. 21

Best bet: Queen over 25.5 PRA (-124)

Is Queen's "Baby Jokic" nickname on Basketball Reference a little much? Probably, but the rookie centre did his best impression against the real thing in Denver on Wednesday:

  • 30 points
  • 9 rebounds
  • 4 assists

He credited that success to the return of Zion Williamson, who helped space the floor, allowing for cleaner looks:

"Z's presence and Trey Murphy's presence out there is huge ... having them out there, the Nuggets keep an eye on him and they trust me to play my game."

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Queen has only played 58 minutes with Williamson so far, but the Pelicans have an incredible +24.2 net rating when they share the court, per NBA.com

Now, that duo will face a Mavericks team that gets eaten alive in the frontcourt.

The Mavericks are allowing the third-most points (25.4) and seventh-most rebounds (15.6) per game to opposing centres, per Fantasy Pros.

Pelicans interim head coach James Borrego should give Queen and Williamson plenty of run tonight.

Key stat: Queen is averaging 29.2 PRA in his last five games.

Best NBA picks

Clingan over 10.5 rebounds (-105): Clingan is coming off a monster 21-rebound game and has now cleared this mark in three straight contests.

The 7-foot-2, 280-pound centre is a walking sequoia tree, and no one on Golden State's roster stands anywhere close to that.

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Draymond Green (6-foot-6) and Jimmy Butler (6-foot-6) are the tallest players in the Warriors' starting five. The only 7-footer who sees the court is sophomore Quinten Post, and he plays fewer than 15 minutes a night.

Clingan had eight rebounds against Golden State in October, but he got into foul trouble and only played 22 minutes in a blowout victory.

Last year, the UConn product had 15 rebounds against the Warriors in April.

NBA player prop predictions

Simons over 2.5 threes (+140): I backed Simons on this market against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, and he fell just short, going 2-for-3 from deep in 26 minutes of play.

The Celtics are hosting the Nets tonight, and I'm hoping Simons shoots with a little more volume — because why shouldn't he?

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The guard is tied for the most 3s per game on Boston with Derrick White and Payton Pritchard despite taking far fewer attempts:

  • Simons: 2.7 threes on 6.6 attempts (40.1%)
  • Pritchard 2.7 threes on 8.1 attempts (33.1%)
  • White: 2.7 threes on 8.6 attempts (30.5%)

Obviously, there's a lot more to the game than just 3-point shooting, but Simons is as efficient as they come in terms of perimeter offence.

Brooklyn owns the second-worst 3-point defence (39.7%) in basketball, and Simons is 7-5 against this line in his last 12 games.

NBA prop picks made at 9:20 a.m. ET on Nov. 21, 2025.

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