Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole (13). Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

NBA best bets: Everybody into the Poole

We're one day away from stuffing our faces and sweating out NFL bets with our beloved friends and family, but we have a full NBA slate on Wednesday night to attack first. Let's build up our Turkey Day bankroll with some juicy three-point prop bets.

Fred VanVleet  5+ made threes (+300 FanDuel)

There's no worse team at defending the three-ball this season than the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies rank dead last in the NBA in threes allowed per game and opponent three-point percentage.

Enter Fred VanVleet. FVV shoots nearly nine threes per game and makes them at a 36 percent clip. He made five threes just three games ago against the Los Angeles Clippers, and he has a good chance to do it again against the worst three-point defense in the league.

Jordan Poole 4+ made threes (+310 FD)

Poole has been a disaster for the Washington Wizards early in the season, but he finally showed some signs of life with 30 points on 26 shot attempts in his last game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Hopefully, that performance will give him enough confidence to chuck up double-digit threes in Wednesday night's matchup against the Charlotte Hornets. 

The Hornets rank 28th in three-pointers allowed per game and 27th in opponent three-point percentage, so let's hope Poole can keep it rolling in a prime matchup.

Luguentz Dort 3+ made threes (+370 FD)

This one won't be as easy as the first two. Dort is averaging just 4.4 three-point attempts per game this season, but he's shooting an impressive 45.9 percent from deep. If he connects on one early, Dort should go over his average attempts against a Chicago Bulls team that's allowing 14.3 threes per game. This is worth a dart throw.


EDITOR'S NOTE — YB's Griffin Carroll sends holiday greetings, and adds: "We're not sure an over has been less stressful than that Indiana-Atlanta game yesterday, It's always nice when two teams combine for 300+ points when you back the over." Indeed it is, GriffyBets, indeed it is. (Bark Bets is taking the day off Thursday, and will return on Friday. Happy Thanksgiving!)


In the news ...

Washington jumps Florida State to shake up College Football Playoff rankings — We have a new team inside the top four of the CFP rankings for the first time this season. Washington, after beating Oregon State on the road, jumped Florida State to take over the fourth spot. The top three remained unchanged with Georgia at No. 1, Ohio State at No. 2 and Michigan at No. 3. Georgia, after another impressive win on the road against Tennessee, is now the +240 favorite to win its third straight national championship.

Pittsburgh Steelers fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada — The Steelers shook up their coaching staff Tuesday by firing Canada in the middle of his third season as the team's offensive coordinator. Pittsburgh ranks 28th in the NFL this season in points per game, 28th in yards per play and 31st in passing yards per game. Despite the in-season move, the Steelers are still -135 to make the playoffs in the AFC.

Marquette jumps Kansas, Purdue beats Tennessee in Maui Invitational — The Maui Invitational is loaded with national title contenders this year, as five of the top 11 teams in the country are in Hawaii fighting for an in-season tournament title. No. 4 Marquette took down No. 1 Kansas in a wire-to-wire victory, and No. 2 Purdue outlasted No. 7 Tennessee to set up a star-studded final between the Golden Eagles and the Boilermakers. Purdue is a 3.5-point favorite over Marquette in Wednesday's championship game. 


Today's Bark Bets is written by Jack Dougherty

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