NBA First Basket Scorer Odds, Picks & Predictions: Saturday (3/2)
As the regular season continues to move forward the NBA action will heat up. Saturday has a small slate of games but there are plenty of great spots for First Baskets. Here are a few of my favorite plays from the night.
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Saturday’s Best NBA First Basket Player Prop Bets
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Utah Jazz at Miami Heat
The Heat have started to turn things around as the postseason is coming into focus. They'll host a Utah team that is currently seeing their playoff hopes slide away. Miami will be looking to get off to another fast start and considering they are one of the better teams at scoring First Baskets, they should have success again here.
Miami will look to Bam Adebayo to get things started. He's been the go-to guy for Miami all season. Already, he has 20 first team field goals and that's resulted in 11 First Baskets. That puts him as one of the best in the league when it comes to cashing the prop. On top of this, Utah is a great matchup for Bam.
The Jazz have given up team-first scores to bigs pretty often. Nearly half of their games this season saw the opposing bigs score first for the team. Bam should be able to get his in this game early and often. I like him to score a 12th First Basket in this game.
Pick: Bam Adebayo (+420)
Portland Trailblazers at Memphis Grizzlies
It's another matchup between two of the more disappointing teams in the Western Conference. These teams played each other last night, but Jaren Jackson Jr. was absent from the lineup with a quad injury. If he is back in the lineup on Saturday, he's a must-play in this spot for First Basket.
Portland isn't the worst team in the league at scoring first, but they're well below the league average. They look particularly bad against opposing bigs where they've given up over half of their opponents’ scores this season. Jackson is a big who can score anywhere on the floor which makes him a bigger threat in these situations.
On top of all of this, Jackson has been a monster at scoring First Baskets. His 21-team first scores are impressive enough, but throwing in the fact that he's turned these into 15 First Basket prop wins is elite. Given the matchup and his success with this prop, he's a must-play if he's in the lineup.
Pick: Jaren Jackson Jr. (+310)
Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Lakers
Saturday's primetime national television matchup pits the defending champion Nuggets against Lebron's Lakers. The Nuggets are on track to try and defend their title while the Lakers are looking to stay in the playoff race. Both of these teams will be looking to get off to a hot start but there's one spot that I like when it comes to First Basket.
The Nuggets have had a small edge over Los Angeles when it comes to scoring first, but it’s the Lakers’ struggles against opposing guards that have me intrigued. Michael Porter Jr. has been one of the better Nuggets when it comes to First Baskets, behind Nikola Jokic. Porter has only cashed this prop seven times this season but the matchup is too good to pass up.
The Lakers giving up over 40% of their opponents’ first scores to wings makes this play intriguing. Porter hasn't cashed this prop a ton this season, but he's a prolific enough scorer (especially with Jamal Murray out) that I like the value on the play.
Pick: Michael Porter Jr. (+850)
Make sure to check out our other best bets for Saturday: