WNBA First Basket Scorers & Picks: Saturday (8/1)
The WNBA isn’t making us wait until the evening hours for a game we can watch and bet on. No, we get our first taste of action today early in the afternoon at 1:00 p.m. ET, to be followed by another game a couple of hours later. I want to talk to you about the WNBA first basket scorers for each game. It's a tough market to predict, but when you get it right, the payoff is tremendous.
Let's take a look at the best WNBA first basket scorers for today's games.
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Saturday’s Best WNBA First Basket Scorers & Bets
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Follow along and make sure to check out our WNBA First Basket Prop Bet Cheat Sheet for help identifying all of today's best prop bets.
Las Vegas Aces vs. Chicago Sky
For the season, Vegas has a slight advantage in making the first basket, having made 15 to Chicago's 14. More often than not, it's someone shooting a two-point jump shot (60%). A’ja Wilson has made the most first baskets for the Aces with five; her last coming recently against Portland on July 28th.
As for Chicago, the Sky have seen seven players record the first basket in a game. Kamilla Cardoso leads the team with four, with her last coming recently in Thursday's game versus the Connecticut Sun. However, it was the first time in four games the Sky made the first basket and just the fourth time in their last 10 games.
Las Vegas missed out on the first basket in its last game, but scored first in the previous two and in five of its last 10 games, with Wilson making two.
Wilson and Cardoso are the best players on their respective teams and the most likely players to make the first basket. But Wilson has been more successful this season and recently, so I have to go with her.
Pick: A'ja Wilson (+480)
New York Liberty vs. Phoenix Mercury
Making the first basket is just not something Phoenix does well, and it is not hard to see why. They win the tip-off, giving them the first possession, just 48.3% of the time. They take the first shot 41.4% of the time, and make the first basket 48.3% of the time. New York, by comparison, has been a bit more successful (58.6%/51.7%/51.7 %).
But that doesn't mean you should overlook the Mercury today. They did score the first basket in their last two and in three of their last five games. However, the Liberty made the first basket in their last five games. Four of them were road games. With that in mind, all signs point to the Liberty, but who will score the first basket?
Of those five games, four different players recorded the first basket. Jonquel Jones was the only player to make two in that span.
With seven players recording the first basket for the Liberty, a case could be made for several players. I'm going to look at frequency and recency. Jones has made the first basket four times compared to three for Breanna Stewart, including two of New York's last four games.
Pick: Jonquel Jones (+450)