One of my favorite ways to bet on an NBA game is with First Basket Scorer odds.
Betting on a game's first bucket brings immediate excitement to any contest. Below, I'll break down a few of my picks for NBA First Basket Scorer odds for tonight's games, with lines from some top sportsbooks:
Jump To Picks:
Golden State Warriors vs New York Knicks
The Game: Warriors vs Knicks, 7:40 p.m. ET
| Player | Odds |
|---|---|
| Jalen Brunson | +350 |
| Jonathan Kuminga | +475 |
| Donte DiVincenzo | +650 |
| Precious Achiuwa | +650 |
| Isaiah Hartenstein | +700 |
| Stephen Curry | +800 |
| Moses Moody | +950 |
| Josh Hart | +1100 |
Pick: Jalen Brunson (+350)
Jalen Brunson is a first-basket bandit. The Knicks guard scores takes the game’s first shot a whooping 34.5% of the time, that’s nearly 8% higher than any other player in tonight’s slate. Naturally, he also leads tonight’s slate with 12 first baskets made this season, scoring them in 21.8% of his starts.
The line value isn’t amazing here on Brunson, but I’m willing to take the risk because the Knicks match up against a Warriors team that wins opening tips just 36.8% of the time, mitigating their first-bucket potential.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs
The Game: Thunder vs Spurs 8:40 p.m. ET
| Player | Odds |
|---|---|
| Victor Wembanyama | +500 |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | +600 |
| Devin Vassell | +600 |
| Jeremy Sochan | +600 |
| Josh Giddey | +650 |
| Chet Holmgren | +650 |
| Jalen Williams | +700 |
Pick: Chet Holmgren (+650)
The value on Chet here is too good to pass up. He hasn’t scored the first basket of a game in his last three starts, but he has been pretty reliable in this prop market all season.
The OKC big has scored 10 first baskets on the year, scoring them in 17.3% of his starts. It helps that he wins over 60% of tip-offs, earning his Thunder the opening possession more often than not.
Chet Holmgren catches the alley-oop and finishes with the REVERSE slam on the defender 😱
— NBA (@NBA) February 28, 2024
Rockets-Thunder on TNT pic.twitter.com/IMAgchoViE
Holmgren’s also been on a bit of a hot streak lately, averaging 22.3 points per game over his last four contests — that’s five more than his per-game average. Get him the ball early and stay hot Chet!
What Are First Field Goal Bets?
First Field Goal props or First Basket Scorer bets are pretty simple: pick the player who will score the first field goal of the contest. The only thing you have to remember is that free throws do not count as field goals, so if your pick gets fouled and scores from the line, the bet hasn't yet cashed.
Here's an example of how a First Basket Scorer market may look for a hypothetical Lakers vs Bucks game:
- Anthony Davis +450
- LeBron James +500
- Giannis Antetokounmpo +550
- Damian Lillard +600
Davis is the favorite at +450 and his odds mean a $100 bet would pay out $450 in profit. However, if you want to back one of the better value picks like Lillard, you could get $600 back on a $100 bet with his +600 odds. Betting this market is all about comparing first basket likelihood and line value.
