NBA Finals First Basket Scorers & Picks: Knicks vs. Spurs (Game 5)
The New York Knicks overcame a 29-point deficit in Game 4 to stun the San Antonio Spurs and go up 3-1 in the NBA Finals. The Knicks can finish the series tonight and win the Larry O’Brien Trophy. That said, the Knicks have started super slow in every game of this series. It’s better to bet on the Spurs when it comes to NBA Finals first basket scorers.
Follow along and make sure to check out our NBA First Basket Prop Bet Cheat Sheet for help identifying all of today's best prop bets.
- More NBA Betting Advice
- Player Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
- First Basket Cheat Sheet
- Prop Bet Analyzer
- Best +EV NBA Props
Go premium to view top prop bets based on Cover Probability, Expected Value & Star Rating >>
Saturday’s Best NBA Finals First Basket Scorers & Picks
(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.
New York Knicks vs. San Antonio Spurs
In Game 4, the Spurs again earned the opening tip. Victor Wembanyama won the opening tip in over 90% of regular-season games this season. However, the Knicks still scored the first basket.
De’Aaron Fox added two foul shots to begin the game, but that doesn’t qualify as the first basket. Instead, it was Karl-Anthony Towns who scored the first basket. A couple of plays later, he had to leave the game with two fouls called on him.
I have backed Fox to score first in every game of this series. He missed the first two shots in Game 3 and got to the foul line in Game 4. He’s still the best value on the board, knowing the Knicks have allowed point guards to score 29% of the time this season.
Fox has had a very weird NBA Finals and has been scrutinized more than any other player. But the Spurs aren’t going to take the ball out of his hand or do anything differently. Let’s back him to score first.
Pick: De’Aaron Fox (+700)