Navigate

NBA First Basket Scorer Odds, Picks & Predictions: Friday (1/26)

by |

Friday features a solid slate of NBA games. With a lot of great matchups up and down the board, it's bound to be an exciting weekend of action overall. A great way to get your NBA weekend card started is First Baskets. Below are a few of my favorite plays for Friday night.

Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

Los Angeles Clippers at Toronto Raptors

The Clippers will travel north of the border to battle the Raptors on Friday night. The Toronto roster has had a lot of changes this month, but one steady piece all season has been Scottie Barnes. Barnes has taken a big step forward in his development this season and part of that is that he's excelled in First Basket props.

Los Angeles, for all of their success this season, has been pretty sub-par about scoring first. They do so well less than the league average. Meanwhile, Toronto has been quite successful. With continued changeover, I like Toronto to look to Barnes early to get the offense started.

It's also a good matchup for the young forward. The Clippers give up opponent first scores to forwards at a rate over 40%. This along with Barnes leading the Raptors with 15 first team scores leading to nine First Basket cashes on the season already. I like him to get another on Friday night.

Pick: Scottie Barnes (+550)

Orlando Magic at Memphis Grizzlies

After a hot start the Magic have slowed down a bit, but they're looking to get back on track against a shorthanded Memphis team. When it comes to First Baskets Orlando has been a below average bunch while Memphis has actually excelled. It hasn't translated to many wins, but the Grizzlies have been one of the better teams in the league at cashing First Baskets props.

When it comes to matchups, there is one that sticks out above the rest. Orlando has given up opponent first scores to bigs in nearly half of the games they've played this season. Memphis's best First Baskets prop scorer just happens to be a big as well.

Jaren Jackson, the steady piece in the Memphis lineup this season, has already cashed this prop 11 times this season. Additionally he's been the first Memphis scorer another four times. With his success scoring first this season and the matchup with a generous defense against bigs, I like Jaren Jackson to cash this prop again on Friday.

Pick: Jaren Jackson (+420)

Portland Trailblazers at San Antonio Spurs

Victor Wembanyama continues to fascinate NBA fans. Recently he's put up some really impressive performances, but has yet to really have success with First Baskets. So far he's only produced five First Baskets on the season, but he's scored first for the Spurs and additional two times including Wednesday night. Fortunately for him, he has a good matchup on Friday.

The Trailblazers come to town and they've been a team that allows opposing bigs to score first well over half of their games. This bodes well for the lanky Wembanyama. As he continues to get more comfortable on the floor, he'll start cashing more of these props. 

Portland is one of the worst teams when it comes to First Baskets and it's something San Antonio can exploit. I really like Wembanyama to break out and cash another one of these props Friday night as he continues his Rookie of the Year campaign.

Pick: Victor Wembanyama (+500)

Make sure to check out our other best bets for Friday:


Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | RadioPublic | Breaker | Castbox | Pocket Casts

Try Premium for FREE in our mobile app

BettingPros App