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NBA First Basket Scorer Odds, Picks & Predictions: Monday (3/6)

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Welcome back to a fantastical first basket article. Let’s keep 2023 going right by winning some money in first-basket bets. As always, there is a lot of variability when it comes to betting the first basket but keep in mind, these bets are to maximize your profit in the long run with some being mere lottery tickets. 

Here are my favorite First Basket options for tonight’s slate. 

Last Time: 0-3 (-2.0U)
Past Month: 3-19 (+2.0U)

Also, take a look at our other best bets for Monday:

Monday’s Best First Basket Player Prop Bets

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

Atlanta Hawks vs. Miami Heat

In a rematch of Sunday’s game, I’m going with the Miami center in what should be a great matchup.

Despite Adebayo being the clear favorite, I see this as an obvious play. Not only is Adebayo a 60+ percent tip winner but he is 4-0 against Clint Capela already this season. He has taken him on consistently without fail. 

Miami’s offense isn’t exactly spectacular but it is dependable. The center has scored over 30 percent of the Heat’s first buckets this season, quite a high clip. On the other end, Atlanta has allowed the opponent’s first buckets to come from the center position. Adebayo is the move and I will be putting one unit on him scoring the first bucket.     

Bam Adebayo (+460)

Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

I will say that this play comes with a few catches. First of all, Donovan Mitchell is questionable with a left-hand sprain. Obviously, if he does play, the odds will be different. I would recommend betting this early if you are going to because I don’t mind this play even if Mitchell does play.

The Celtics also split between Robert Williams III and Al Horford. Williams is significantly better at tip-offs than Horford is. Either way, I still like this play. Jarrett Allen is solid at tip-win percentage with him taking it down two-thirds of the time. Cleveland’s defense is arguably the best in the NBA so even if Boston does get the winning tip, I trust Cleveland to be able to stop Boston at the start. 

Garland is an elite guard and Cleveland goes to one of their guards for a first bucket half the time. Especially if Mitchell is out or limited, Garland is an easy go-to early on so get the odds now, because they’ll only drop. 

Pick: Darius Garland (+600)

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All opening tip and first basket data courtesy of NBA First Basket (@NBAFirstBasket)

Ryan Coleman is a featured writer at BettingPros. Follow him on Twitter @ryancoleman_98. For more from Ryan, check out his archive.