NBA First Basket Scorers & Picks: Sunday (5/10)
We’ve got two important games on the NBA schedule tonight. The Knicks look to sweep the Philadelphia 76ers. On the other hand, the San Antonio Spurs will look to increase their lead from 2-1 to 3-1 in tonight’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Which teams and players will get off to a hot start? I’ve added two first basket scorers to consider for today.
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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Sunday’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.
Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks
Karl-Anthony Towns and Joel Embiid each won the opening tip 43% of the time in the regular season. With that said, the Knicks scored the first basket 10% more than the Sixers in the regular season.
The Sixers won the opening tip at home in Game 3. I wouldn’t be shocked if Philadelphia ended up with possession first in this game. In Game 3, it was Kelly Oubre Jr. who scored first. However, the Knicks allowed the first basket to point guards 29% of the time during the season.
With that info, we’d target Tyrese Maxey, who led the 76ers in first baskets with 10 during the regular season. He attempted the team’s first field goal in 30% of games.
Let’s ride with Maxey.
Pick: Tyrese Maxey (+700)
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. San Antonio Spurs
It’s been the Victor Wembanyama show in this series. He’s scored first in every game of this series.
Ultimately, Wembanyama won the opening tip 91% of the time in the regular season. It makes sense that the Spurs continue to score first.
I don’t want to jinx it, but Wembanyama remains the best bet. It’s hard to bet on anyone else right now, even with Wembanyama at just +390 odds to score first.
Pick: Victor Wembanyama (+390)