NBA First Basket Scorer Odds & Picks: Friday (11/15)

The NBA Cup group play continues. Friday night provides a full slate of action with plenty of great angles to bet on. For a fun quick hitter, here are a few solid first-basket scorer plays.

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Friday’s Best NBA First Basket Bets

(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)

Who will score the first basket in today’s NBA game? We compare historical first basket stats to prop bet odds to help identify today’s best bets. View first-basket odds across sportsbooks here.

Miami Heat at Indiana Pacers

Indiana will be playing their first game of the NBA Cup while Miami lost its opener on Tuesday to Detroit. Indiana came up short as they finished runners-up last season. I expect them to try and get off to a hot start here. The Pacers have gotten off to a scorching start to the year when it comes to first baskets, scoring first in over 70% of their games. With a strong matchup here, I'll be targeting them again.

Looking at the matchup, Miami gives up first opponent scores to big men pretty often. This is great news for Myles Turner, who has scored 17 first baskets dating back to the start of last season. The Pacers' success scoring first and the matchup for Turner makes him a strong play in this game.

Pick: Myles Turner (+750)

Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers

The undefeated Cavaliers once again put their unblemished record on the line Friday night against Chicago. The Bulls have been off to a rough start, especially when it comes to first baskets. Chicago has managed to score first in only three of their 12 games this season. Cleveland has been around league average, but that's enough for an edge here.

As far as the matchup goes, Chicago has given up a good amount of opponent first scores to opposing guards. This creates strong value for Darius Garland. The Cavalier point guard hasn't cashed a ton of these, with only eight since the start of last season, but he's already hit a few this season. He's been playing very well to start the year, so I'll back Garland as a value longshot.

Pick: Darius Garland (+700)

Los Angeles Clippers at Houston Rockets

The Clippers are a team that struggled to score first in the 2023-24 season. They've been a bit better in the early part of this season but they're going up against a Rocket team that has been strong in these situations. I'll be backing the Houston outfit here.

One matchup that stands out is Houston’s big men against this defense. Los Angeles has given up more first scores to centers than any other players since the beginning of last year. For Houston, that's welcoming news as they have a strong scoring big man in Alperen Sengun. He's cashed 12 of these since the start of last season and has scored first for the Rockets in almost 40% of games in that time. In this matchup, he's a strong bet again.

Pick: Alperen Sengun (+475)