NBA First Basket Scorer Picks: Nuggets vs. Timberwolves (Thursday)
We’ve got a standalone game in the NBA tonight!
After dropping the first two games of the series, the Denver Nuggets have won three consecutive games against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. They can knock out the Timberwolves tonight with a 3-2 lead. On the road, it’ll be essential for both teams to start the game off strong.
Therefore, we’ve added a couple of NBA first basket props for tonight’s action.
Make sure to check out our NBA First Basket Cheat Sheet for even more betting advice. Also, join our BettingPros Discord to discuss the best First-Basket bets for every slate of NBA games with our community of sports bettors. Let’s at least cash in on one of the two NBA first basket props tonight!
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 >>
Thursday’s Best NBA First Basket Scorer Player Prop Bets
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Denver Nuggets @ Minnesota Timberwolves (Long Shot)
In the playoffs, Nikola Jokic is 3-1 head-to-head against Rudy Gobert in the tip. Jokic has also won seven of the first ten tip-offs and has helped the Nuggets score first in 60% of playoff games.
On the other hand, Gobert has won the tip in just 25% of his attempts, giving the Timberwolves a harder time scoring first. Minnesota has scored first 56% of the time in the playoffs.
Jokic and the Nuggets have way more potential to win the tip and score first. In the playoffs, Minnesota has watched the shooting guard score first in 50% of games. However, in the regular season, the power forward added the first basket in 30% of matchups.
Those are the two positions I’d pay attention to regarding the Nuggets’ first basket. Ironically, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has added two first baskets in 10 games. He’s also taken the team’s first basket in 20% of playoff games. At +1500 odds, knowing the Timberwolves have allowed a high rate of first baskets to shooting guards to begin the playoffs, we’ll take a major gamble on Caldwell-Pope. He’s got more first baskets than Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray, and Nikola Jokic this postseason.
NBA First Basket Scorer Bet: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (+1500)
If you’re not about rocking with a +1500 first basket bet, you won’t be alone. Nikola Jokic added the first basket in 18 games during the regular season. He also attempted the team’s first basket in 41% of games and took the team’s first field goal attempt in 39% of games.
The Nuggets will want to start strong and there’s no player they’re more comfortable with to shoot than Jokic. Jokic added 40 points in Denver’s most recent win and added 35 in the previous game. He’s also added at least 32 points in three of the first five games against Minnesota.
If any player wants to reach 30+ points, they’ve got to start cooking early. Jokic has all the regular season stats pointing towards him making the first basket. He’s been a bit inconsistent to begin the playoffs with just one first basket. But he’ll be a big portion of the early gameplan for Denver.
NBA First Basket Scorer Bet: Nikola Jokic (+460)