NBA First Basket Scorer Odds & Picks: Tuesday (11/26)
The NBA season rolls on tonight with five games on the Tuesday schedule. Every matchup is also part of the NBA Cup’s group play action. If you want to get some instant action on Tuesday's NBA games, then check out these NBA first-basket best bets.
NBA first-basket bets are quick and easy ways to place wagers with bigger payouts – and you'll know if they cash right away. Let's try to find some winners for a pair of games on Tuesday night. Note that all betting lines are accurate as of this writing, but shop around for the best odds. Enjoy these NBA first-basket picks and predictions for Tuesday, November 26.
Also, make sure to check out our NBA First Basket Prop Bet Cheat Sheet for help identifying all of today's best prop bets.
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Tuesday's Best NBA First Basket Bets
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Houston Rockets at Minnesota Timberwolves
In tonight's Rockets vs. Timberwolves matchup, one trend and stat immediately stands out. Alperen Sengun has scored the first basket in 41.2% of his games started this season. That's seven made first baskets in 17 games for the Houston center. It's also the highest first basket rate in the NBA by a decent margin.
The Rockets are clearly trying to get Sengun going early with a touch and/or shot attempt on their first possession or two. He's capitalizing more often than not on those opportunities as well.
Tonight, Sengun has to contend with Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert. However, Gobert has just a 6-5 record on opening tip-offs this season. Plus, Sengun hasn't backed down against the defensive 7-foot-1 center over the years. He's averaging 18.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in four head-to-head matchups against Gobert over the past three seasons.
The odds are short on Sengun to score the first bucket for a reason. He's doing it at a high rate right now, which creates value until there's meaningful regression.
Pick: Alperen Sengun +550
Milwaukee Bucks at Miami Heat
The first game of tonight's NBA on TNT doubleheader features a pair of Eastern Conference foes off to slower starts than expected. Neither the Bucks nor the Heat have a winning record ahead of this matchup. When it comes to first basket bets, though, we can throw the records out the window. Instead, let's focus on who could score first.
The opening tip-off tonight will presumably be Brook Lopez for Milwaukee against Bam Adebayo for Miami. This gives the Bucks an immediate edge to score first for a few reasons.
First off, the Heat have only scored three first baskets as a team this whole season (through 14 games). The Bucks, meanwhile, have cashed the first basket in 11 of 17 games. A big reason for that high rate is Lopez's impressive 64.7% win rate on opening jump balls. Adebayo, on the other hand, has a 50% win rate on opening tips.
Last year, Lopez was 2-0 against Adebayo on tip-offs in their two games against each other. Plus, each of the past four opening jump balls between these big men has gone in Lopez's favor (going back to the 2023 playoffs).
As for Milwaukee, Lopez leads the team in first baskets made (4), first baskets per game started (25%), and first shot attempt percentage (18.8%). We have a number of trends pointing to Lopez winning the tip and then scoring the first points.
Pick: Brook Lopez +950