NBA First Basket Scorers & Picks: Cavaliers vs. Knicks (Tuesday)
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals begins tonight. The game will start at 8:00 pm ET on ESPN. That said, we’re looking for the team and player who can get off to a quick start and score first. I’ve shared my NBA first basket scorers below.
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.
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Tuesday’s Best NBA 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.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks
The Cleveland Cavaliers scored the first basket just a little more than the New York Knicks did in the regular season. Jarrett Allen won the opening tip in 68% of attempts, while Karl-Anthony Towns of the Knicks won the tip in only 43% of games.
Allen has the overall advantage.
However, Towns has already won multiple head-to-head opening tips against Allen, earning the tip both times against Allen this season. Towns might have Allen’s number, but I’m not ready to rule out the Cavaliers scoring first.
At the end of the day, Cleveland has been much more consistent scoring first with Allen at center. There’s no trend if it’s happened only two times in a row. Therefore, we’ll ride with Allen to get the Cavaliers the ball first.
Additionally, the Knicks allowed the first basket to point guards 29% of the time this season. James Harden arrived with the Cavaliers late in the season, but still managed to score five first baskets for Cleveland.
Harden is not typically scoring the first basket at a high rate, but he’s got more potential against the Knicks to score first. The numbers match up well.
Back Harden at +850 odds to score first tonight.
Pick: James Harden (+850)