Top NBA First Basket Betting Odds, Picks & Predictions: Friday (11/11)
Let's take a look at the Friday slate and find some First Basket prop plays.
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Denver Nuggets at Boston Celtics
This is perhaps the most exciting game on the schedule for Friday. Both of these teams have been rolling since the start of the season, led by prolific offenses.
I'm going to focus on the home team, Boston, for the First Basket prop. They've been the best team offensively in the early season, led by Jayson Tatum. He has been putting himself in the MVP discussion early. He's also putting himself in the must-bet discussion for First Basket.
In the early season, the Celtics scored the first field goal in well over half of their games, and Tatum scored in most of these situations. I like Boston to feed the hot hand here and will take Tatum for a First Basket bet.
Pick: Jayson Tatum +500
Milwaukee Bucks at San Antonio Spurs
The Bucks look to be without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday again on Friday. Normally I would be on the Bucks for this prop, but this swings things a lot.
The Spurs have been pretty good at scoring first-basket props, and they've been good at winning opening tips. On the road and short-handed again, I could see the Bucks getting off to a slow start, making Spurs players more attractive in this spot.
I'm going to take Keldon Johnson here. He's been the most likely candidate to cash the prop this season for San Antonio. He's putting up the earliest field goal attempts for the Spurs, has cashed in three of the last 10 games, and is a good bet against a short-handed Bucks team.
Pick: Keldon Johnson +550
Sacramento Kings at Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers have struggled mightily to start the season. They'll likely be without LeBron James in this matchup, which doesn't bode well for LA. Luckily we're not picking against the spread here.
The Lakers have surprisingly been successful in cashing first-basket props on the season, doing so in six of their last ten. With LeBron out of the lineup and Russ coming off the bench, I'm targeting only one name, Anthony Davis.
Even with a fully healthy Laker squad, Davis has scored three of the six Laker First Baskets in the last ten. With him being the center of attention on offense in this game, I will take him to cash the First Basket prop again.
Pick: Anthony Davis +270
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