NBA Finals First Basket Picks: Friday (Thunder vs. Pacers)
After three thrilling games to start the series, the NBA Finals move on to Game 4. The Thunder will look to even the series up on the road and avoid the dreaded 3-1 hole. There are plenty of great betting angles, but if you want to get in on the action quickly, here are a few of my favorite NBA first basket picks.
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Friday’s Best NBA First Basket Scorer Picks & Bets
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Who will score the first basket in today’s NBA games? We compare historical first-basket stats to prop bet odds to help identify today’s best bets. View first-basket odds across sportsbooks here.
Oklahoma City Thunder at Indiana Pacers
With only one team ever coming back from a 3-1 NBA Finals deficit, this is as close as you'll get to a must-win game for the Thunder. You can expect them to try and come out strong as they've done the entire series. The Thunder have managed to win the tip and score first in all three games this series. With Chet Holmgren now owning a 4-1 head-to-head jump ball advantage over Myles Turner, I don't expect much to change there.
All year long, the Pacers have given up first scores to the opposing bigs. That hasn't changed much in this series. Chet Holmgren has had a bunch of great opportunities early in games in this series. He's scored one of Oklahoma City's first two baskets in each game of this series, including securing his 10th first basket of the year in Game 3.
If you want something with a little longer odds, perhaps I can interest you in Cason Wallace. He has only started two games in this series, but he's attempted one of the first three shots for Oklahoma City in both of them. Although Wallace is averaging just 5.5 points per game in this series, the Thunder have shown they like to go to him early. Wallace even managed a first basket in Game 2. At these odds, I like him to repeat that magic.
With the numbers on Oklahoma City's side and the need for the Thunder to win this game, I like the Thunder to score first. Holmgren is a strong choice and his odds reflect that, but if you want something with a little longer odds, I also like Wallace.
Picks: Chet Holmgren (+475) & Cason Wallace (+1300)