Not only have the New York Knicks dominated this Eastern Conference Finals series, but they’ve also scored the first basket in two of the first three games. In addition, the Knicks earned the first possession in two of the first three games of the series, too. Will the Knicks start strong and get in front early in tonight’s game? Here are our top NBA first basket scorers to consider for tonight.
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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Monday’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.
New York Knicks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
Karl-Anthony Towns finally lost an opening tip matchup against Jarrett Allen in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Towns had won the previous two regular-season matchups and the first two games of this series.
Yet, Allen has a much better track record of winning opening tips, and the Cavaliers have scored first more often than the Knicks this season.
In Game 3, Allen won the tip, but Evan Mobley missed his first shot of the game. That allowed the Knicks to score first behind Towns’ three-point make.
So far this year, Towns is 4-1 against Allen in the opening tip. Let’s give Towns and the Knicks another look tonight.
The Cavaliers allowed point guards to score first 31% of the time this season. So let’s ride with Jalen Brunson to score first. He’s already come through for us once in this series.
Pick: Jalen Brunson (+550)
