The first round of the NBA Playoffs is starting to take shape. Last night, the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves advanced to the next round. Tonight, three more teams have the chance to advance with a win.
Getting off to hot starts matters. Here are my top first basket plays for tonight’s matchups.
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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Friday’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.
Detroit Pistons vs. Orlando Magic
We’ve taken an Orlando Magic player for every single first basket in this series. Ultimately, Wendell Carter Jr. has a much better track record at winning the opening tip than Jalen Duren.
In the regular season, Carter Jr. won every single opening tip against Duren. Of course, that hasn’t been the case in this series, but Carter Jr. and the Magic have a much higher probability of winning the opening tip and taking the first shot.
No position truly stands out when scoring first against the Pistons. Still, the small forward and power forward positions have scored first more frequently against Detroit.
We won’t ride it out with Jamal Cain, so it’ll be better to ride it out with Paolo Banchero, who scored the team’s first basket in 15% of games and added seven first baskets in the regular season.
Pick: Paolo Banchero (+650)
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets
Deandre Ayton won the opening tip 67% of the time for the Lakers in the regular season. Alperen Sengun only won the tip 38% of the time for the Rockets in the regular season. Ayton has a much better chance of winning the opening tip than Sengun.
Additionally, the Rockets really struggled against small forwards to start games, allowing the first basket to small forwards 30% of the time. Ultimately, the ball ends up in LeBron James’ hands almost every possession.
He led the starters in first baskets this season and took the team’s first basket in 25% of games during the regular season. Plus, he started 60 games and scored the first basket in ten games.
I’m rolling with LeBron to score first at +600.
Pick: LeBron James (+600)
