There are nine games on tonight’s NBA slate. That means we’ll also have nine first-basket scorers. I studied each game and added my favorite first-basket wager for Knicks vs. Cavaliers below.
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.
Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>
Wednesday’s Best NBA First Basket Bets: Knicks vs. Cavaliers
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel 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.
Knicks vs. Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers have dominated in the first basket department behind Jarrett Allen. He has won the tip in 79% of starts and has helped the Cavaliers score first 61% of the time.
He’ll go up against Karl-Anthony Towns of the Knicks, who has only won the tip in 42% of games. Furthermore, the Knicks have scored first just 47% of the time. After all, Towns and Allen have each added one tip-off win against one another this season. But Allen is certainly much better at winning the tip, and the Cavaliers are much more consistent with scoring first.
That said, the Knicks have allowed the first basket to power forwards 25% of the time. They’ve also given up the first basket to shooting guards 23% of the time and small forwards 23% of the time. Those are the positions we’ll want to take a look at with the Cavaliers.
Donovan Mitchell has added the team’s first basket in 28% of games this season. He’s also attempted the team’s first basket in 28% of games this year. Let’s take a chance with Donovan Mitchell tonight.
Pick: Donovan Mitchell (+480)
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Wednesday:
