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NBA First Basket Scorer Odds, Picks & Predictions: Saturday (12/2)

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Most of the betting world will be focused on college football this Saturday, but they’ll be missing out on a jam-packed NBA slate. Whether you’re an NBA die-hard bettor or just looking to get some quick, fun action on basketball, First Basket is a great prop. Let’s look at some of my favorite spots to back for First Baskets on Saturday.

 

Saturday’s Best NBA First Basket Player Prop Bets

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets will be without star guard LaMelo Ball for a while as he recovers from injury. This is a blow for them from a First Basket standpoint as he was one of the team leaders in the prop, but as a whole the team has scored first in less than 20% of their games regardless. Meanwhile Minnesota has been one of the best teams over the last two years scoring first.

I’m targeting Rudy Gobert in this matchup. Charlotte is giving up first opponent field goals to bigs at an alarming rate. Over 60% of the games they play result in a big scoring first for the other team. Is there any better matchup for this Minnesota frontcourt?

Gobert, like most centers, does a really good cashing this prop. Against a young frontcourt in Charlotte he can feast early. I like him to get another First Basket here.

Pick: Rudy Gobert (+500)

Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons

Detroit is on one of their worst streaks in franchise history. Losers of 16 straight is further from where they probably expected to be at this point of the rebuild. However, most of their issues have reared their heads late in games and they’re actually a really solid First Basket team. Cleveland on the other hand has struggled in that department this year and scoring first in under 40% of their games this year.

Detroit is likely to welcome back Bojan Bogdanovic who performed really well for them last year. I could see them going to him early, but that would be a break from their trends so far. The offense in Detroit is working best when Cade Cunningham is playing a two-man game with center Jalen Duren. So it’s no surprise that Detroit’s first field goals have come predominantly  the center position.

Cleveland has a solid frontcourt defense, but often these first possessions are drawn up perfectly and Detroit loves to go to the center. This makes Duren my favorite play for First Basket in this game.

Pick: Jalen Duren (+700)

Portland Trail Blazers at Utah Jazz  

These two Northwest Division foes are towards the bottom of the West standings, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a great spot for a First Basket! Neither of these teams have been particularly good this year at scoring first. Both are under 50%, however Utah is exceptionally bad, under 40%, and has been since dating back to last year. I like Portland in this matchup for First Basket, but this is more of a fade of Utah.

This Portland team is a lot like last years’ Utah team. Made up of a lot of solid pieces that don’t quite fit together. You have a couple really solid scorers on the team, led by Jerami Grant. He’s now the lead guy in Portland and has the ball in his hands quite a bit. With Deandre Ayton, he’s putting up a lot of the first shot attempts but the matchup with Utah favors him.

Utah has struggled most this season against wings when it comes to first scores. The opponent first field goals are coming at a rate near two-thirds of the Jazz games. With 

Grant being the Blazers’ leading scorer and a solid wing player, he’s great bet to score a First Basket and round out my Saturday card.

Pick: Jerami Grant (+700)

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


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