NBA First Basket Scorer Odds & Picks: Saturday (11/23)
The NBA season is in full swing. Saturday night provides a full slate of action and has 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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Saturday’s Best NBA First Basket Scorer Props
Who will score the first basket in today’s NBA games? We compare historical first basket stats to prop bet odds to help identify today’s best bets. View first-basket odds across sportsbooks here.
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Memphis Grizzlies at Chicago Bulls
Chicago will be on the second night of a back-to-back going up against a well-rested Memphis team. The Bulls have struggled early in games and have scored first in only three of their 17 games coming into this Saturday night matchup. With the Grizzlies being one of the best first-basket teams over the last two years, they're the obvious side to back here.
When it comes to matchups, Chicago has a soft spot on defense against big men. No position has scored more first baskets against the Bulls than centers. For Memphis, this is great news because they have a center that happens to be a first-basket scoring machine.
Jaren Jackson Jr. has scored the first basket in nearly 25% of the games he's started since the beginning of last season. He can score from anywhere on the floor. With the matchup advantage against Chicago, I like him to secure another first basket.
Pick: Jaren Jackson Jr. (+330)
Portland Trailblazers at Houston Rockets
These teams faced off on Friday night. I was on Alperen Sengun, who was unable to cash this. Instead, Shaedon Sharpe made a three to secure the first basket. I like the matchup and will be backing Sengun again.
Portland has been pretty weak in scoring early, Friday night notwithstanding. Houston remains one of the best first basket teams and Portland still has a weak spot on defense against bigs. Sengun had three opportunities to be Houston's first-team scorer on Friday but two turnovers and a missed three-pointer left him empty-handed.
First baskets are a volatile prop market to bet on. However, if you make plays that the numbers support you can find success in the long run. I'm going to follow the numbers again even though we got burned on Friday and back Sengun to score the first basket.
Pick: Alperen Sengun (+450)
Charlotte Hornets at Milwaukee Bucks
I can spend a lot of time pointing out stats that support this pick. Charlotte was a poor first-basket team last season, although they've shown some improvement in the early going this year. Milwaukee was one of the best last year and has relayed that into current season success. Perhaps no player in the league is more efficient in scoring first baskets than Giannis Antetokounmpo. All of these make Antetokounmpo a strong play but there is a stronger angle.
These two teams met up last Saturday in Charlotte with the Hornets pulling off the upset victory. That game ended with Antetokounmpo missing a jumper at the buzzer. I don't think he's going to forget how that ended and should be looking to get on the board early to try and impose his will. The numbers support this play and the narrative supports this play. I'll also be supporting this play and adding it to my Saturday betting card.
Pick: Giannis Antetokounmpo (+320)