NBA First Basket Scorer Odds & Picks: Tuesday (12/3)
Tuesday night's NBA slate is a big one with 11 games on the schedule. Group play in the NBA Cup continues tonight with plenty of intriguing matchups. Let's examine the Rockets vs. Kings and Warriors vs. Nuggets games for our NBA first-basket picks.
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, December 3rd!
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Tuesday's Best NBA First Basket Bets
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Houston Rockets at Sacramento Kings
Tonight's Rockets vs. Kings matchup features several stats and trends that favor one team and one player to cash the first basket prop. Sacramento has won the opening tip-off in 33.3% of games this season. Kings center Domantas Sabonis has a poor 5-12 record on opening tips - immediately giving an edge to opposing teams to score first.
On the flip side, the Rockets have scored the first basket in 14-of-20 games this season (70%) which brings us to Alperen Sengun. The Houston center has scored seven first baskets at an impressive 35% rate in his games started this year. The Rockets are making a point of getting the ball in Sengun's hands to create in the first possession or two of games.
Last season, Sengun went 3-0 in opening tips vs. Sabonis and he's 5-2 in his career against the Kings center. Let's lean right into the trends that favor Sengun to win the opening jump ball and score first.
Pick: Alperen Sengun (+470)
Golden State Warriors at Denver Nuggets
The late NBA on TNT game tonight features a Western Conference showdown between the Warriors and Nuggets. Steph Curry and Nikola Jokic are the big headliners in this matchup, but we're looking elsewhere for the first basket pick.
Warriors center Trayce Jackson-Davis has an ugly 4-14 record on opening tip-offs this season for just a 22% win rate. He's also gone 1-11 on tips over his past 12 starts coming into tonight. Jackson-Davis is an undersized center at 6-foot-9 and he'll be at a height disadvantage again here against Jokic.
As for Jokic, he has a so-so 6-8 record on opening tips this year. Yet, the 42.8% win rate is notably higher than Jackson-Davis. In his past 10 meetings with Golden State, Jokic has an 8-2 record on initial jump balls. He should have the upper hand tonight to get Denver the first possession.
Jokic could score first once he wins the tip, but let's go with a different Nuggets player. Jamal Murray has the highest first-shot rate (20%) and first-basket per game started rate (26.7%) for Denver this year. He's the Nuggets' best option to take and make the first shot based on those trends.
Pick: Jamal Murray (+550)