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NBA First Basket Scorer Odds, Picks & Predictions: Thursday (3/9)

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It’s time for some more first-basket bets!

With six games on the slate, there’s some value on the board today in the first-basket market. Picking the team to score the first basket seems like the easy part, but trying to pinpoint the player to score the first basket can get a little tricky.

I’ve done the research below. Let’s get into it.

Also, take a look at our other best bets for Thursday:

View 5-star bets and historical prop performance by players with our Prop Bet Analyzer >>

Thursday’s Best First Basket Player Prop Bets

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

Houston Rockets vs. Indiana Pacers

The Pacers and Rockets will play for the second time this season. In the first one, the Pacers won the tip and scored first. That was back on November 18. Things have changed since then.

The Rockets and Pacers have both won just 32 percent tipoffs this year. However, the Rockets have earned 51 percent of first baskets while the Pacers have made just 38 percent. Houston is more consistent in starting a game despite not getting the first shot much.

Alperen Sengun has seven first baskets to lead the Rockets. He’s sitting at +500 and has terrific value to score first tonight.

Bet: Alperen Sengun (+500) 

Brooklyn Nets vs. Milwaukee Bucks

The Nets have won just 43 percent of tips this season while the Bucks have grabbed 65 percent of tips. The Bucks take the first shot in two of every three games and have scored the first basket 58 percent of the time.

Brooklyn has scored the first basket 58 percent of the time but only takes the first shot 43 percent of the time. Therefore, the Bucks should end up with the ball first and have a higher probability of scoring in this game.

Brook Lopez has more first-basket attempts than Giannis Antetokounmpo and will be playing his former team. Lopez has made eight first baskets this season.

Bet: Brook Lopez (+6500)

New York Knicks vs. Sacramento Kings

The Knicks will look to get back on track after a poor loss to the Hornets. New York has won the tip in 58 percent of games this season. Meanwhile, the Kings have only won the tip in 36 percent of games. The Knicks have a much higher probability of getting the ball first and should get the first opportunity to score in this game.

Jalen Brunson’s status is unclear at the moment. He’s projected to play. However, Julius Randle still has more first baskets than Brunson or any other player on the Knicks’ roster.

Randle has scored ten first baskets with ten first-shot attempts this season. I’ll back Randle in this spot.

Bet: Julius Randle  (+420)

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