The Milwaukee Bucks can bounce back from their Saturday loss to the Brooklyn Nets with a strong performance against a team that their stars have had plenty of success against.
Khris Middleton has three 20-plus-point performances against the Charlotte Hornets this season, and Monday's matchup is a perfect spot to target the Bucks' No. 2 scorer.
Middleton came out of the All-Star break with 25 points against the Nets and we should not be surprised to see a similar total posted against the NBA's third-worst scoring defense.
Middleton headlines a collection of three star players I'm targeting in strong matchups and situations for the return of the 3-Point Play.
NBA 3-Point Play
Overall Record: 52-53
Khris Middleton Over 19.5 Points
Khris Middleton produced two 27-point performances and one 21-point outing in three meetings with the Hornets this season.
If Middleton keeps that trend up, he could clear the over on his points prop with ease.
Middleton is coming off a 25-point outing versus Brooklyn in which he shot 8-for-13 from the field and got to the free-throw line on eight occasions.
Middleton had two 19-point nights prior to the All-Star break, so his shooting form is better than his February average of 18.3 points per game would suggest.
D'Angelo Russell Over 6.5 Assists
I'm going back again to one of my favorite props to bet this season.
D'Angelo Russell is averaging 7.0 assists per game for the season and 7.1 assists per contest in February. He produced more than six assists on six occasions this month.
Russell faces a very favorable matchup against Cleveland with Darius Garland and Rajon Rondo both out.
The Cavaliers gave up 19 assists to the Wizards on Saturday in the first game without Rondo in this stretch. Raul Neto and Ish Smith combined for nine handouts from the point guard position.
Russell is in charge of a much more electric offense that should put up way more than Washington's 92 points from Saturday, and with that, should come a high assist total.
Jimmy Butler Over 7.5 Assists
Jimmy Butler averages 8.6 assists per game during the stretch of contests missed by Kyle Lowry in January and early February.
Lowry is out once again due to personal reasons for Monday's clash with the Chicago Bulls, and that will allow Butler to play more of a facilitator role.
Butler had four double-digit assist games from January 17-February 1, when Lowry was out, and he had six performances with eight or more handouts in that run.
Chicago gave up 43 assists in its last two games versus Atlanta and Memphis. Trae Young had a 10-assist game against the Bulls on Thursday.
Everything points to Butler setting up a ton of shots, and oh by the way, do not count out the fact he is playing against one of his former teams.