WNBA First Basket Scorers & Picks: Friday (6/13)
The weekend kicks off with a WNBA doubleheader on Friday night with the Dream hosting the struggling Sky and the Wings visiting the Aces in Las Vegas.
Along with the betting lines and player props, sportsbooks carry odds on WNBA first-basket props for each game. But how do you predict who will make the first basket of a game?
It is easier said than done, of course. Keep reading if you want to see my picks for each game.
Friday’s Best WNBA First Basket Scorers & Bets
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Chicago Sky vs. Atlanta Dream
Atlanta is 6-3 this season and 3-1 at home. They've made the first basket in six games, including four at home. Five of the six were three-pointers, with Rhyne Howard making two and Brionna Jones, Maya Caldwell and Allisha Gray each making one. Gray also hit the first shot in another game.
In the three games where they didn't make the first shot, Jones made the team's first shot twice, and Gray has done so once.
Someone from the Sky has made the first shot in a game just three times: Kamilla Cardoso (twice) and Kia Nurse (once). Nurse has also made the Sky's first basket once; Ariel Atkins has done so twice, while Elizabeth Williams and Courtney Vandersloot have one team first basket apiece.
Teams are making a WNBA-high 10.8 three-pointers a game against the Sky, hitting 40% of their attempts. Howard is making 2.6 per game compared to 2.4 for Gray, but Gray is making 42.3% of her attempts.
Pick: Allisha Gray (+500)
Dallas Wings vs. Las Vegas Aces
The struggle has been real for the Wings this season, but there is one thing that has gone well for them most of the season - they are making the first basket in games more often than not. In fact, of their 10 games this season, they've made the first shot in eight.
DiJonai Carrington and Myisha Hines-Allen have each made three first baskets (both did so once last weekend). Paige Bueckers had the honor in the season opener, and Nalyssa Smith has done so once as well. In the other two games, Bueckers and Hines-Allen scored the first baskets for the team.
Las Vegas has made the first basket just three times, in the first two games of the season and in their recent loss to the Sparks. After being one of the top offenses in the league in recent years, the Aces are currently No. 8 in the league (81.3 points per game). Things just aren't clicking.
I didn't pick Hines-Allen in either of the weekend games because she is averaging fewer than six shots a game. To count on one of her few attempts to be the first of the game just seemed foolhardy. I was wrong. But while Hines-Allen is a good bet to make the first shot, so is Carrington.
At these odds, it is worth it to split your intended stake and put something down on both.
Picks: Myisha Hines-Allen (+700) & DiJonai Carrington (+800)