Bet Jalen Brunson's Player Props In Lakers vs. Knicks on Tuesday, January 31

On Tuesday, January 31, the New York Knicks host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers at Madison Square Garden at 7:30PM ET. This will be the first of two games on TNT, so all of these players are going to want to show out on national television. But while LeBron is the one chasing the NBA all-time points record, Jalen Brunson is the player that has caught our attention as a betting value. Our predictive analytics model has identified a huge edge on his points total for the night, so let us break down why Brunson is a great bet to shred the Lakers defense in this one. Also, make sure you also check out our NBA best bets and NBA parlay for the evening. We've been extremely profitable with all of our picks this season, so we're confident you'll like what you see. 

RELATED: Check out our favorite NBA player props for tonight's slate

As always, we've simulated all of the night's NBA games 10,000 times each to determine where the value lies for sports bettors across the United States.

Lakers vs. Knicks Projected Box Scores

Why Jalen Brunson Will Go Over 24.5 Points vs. Lakers

Since it was announced that LeBron will play against the Knicks, Brunson's point total has gone up from 23.5 to 24.5. That's because the game is now expected to be a little more open, as LeBron is in an all-out chase for the top spot on the NBA's all-time points leader list. It will only take a few more games for LeBron to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record, and he'll surely want to make a dent in that small deficit in one of the best arenas in sports. 

While Brunson's total has gone up a bit, this is still a game in which we love the point guard's chances of going Over the mark. Despite the fact that the number is now 24.5, and as high as 25.5 on some sportsbooks, our predictive analytics model, DimersBOT, has Brunson going for 29 points in this meeting with the Lakers. That will easily clear the total for this game, and it just shouldn't surprise anybody if he approaches 30 in this one. 

Since the start of January, Brunson is averaging 28.1 points per game on 48.6% shooting from the floor, 46.4% shooting from three and 80.9% shooting from the line (on a relatively high 6.7 free throw attempts per game). This is just a guy that is operating with supreme confidence right now, and he also happens to be coming off back-to-back games in which he scored at least 26 points — with those games coming against the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets. 

We have seen Brunson shredding good defenses all season long, and he now gets a look at a Lakers team that is just 19th in the league in defensive rating. The Lakers are also second in the NBA in pace of play, and those two together make for an amazing combination for Brunson. This is a game in which he should get a few more possessions than usual, and he'll be attacking a somewhat weak defense. 

It does seem like Anthony Davis will play for Los Angeles tonight, and his rim protection will definitely help his team a bit. But the Lakers don't have the perimeter defenders required to stop a guy like Brunson, who can hit the three and score with his back to the basket. Patrick Beverley would normally be the guy that tries, but he's out for this game — and he's more bark than bite anyway. 

With all of that said, it's just hard to imagine Brunson not stepping up and turning in a big game as a scorer here. With that said we absolutely love his chances of going Over and think this should be a bet you play separately from our player props parlay.