It might be easy to miss the NBA’s in-season tournament, at least on the typical schedules that pop up across most sports sites. It’s simply impossible to ignore the decked out courts in brand new colors, some a little stronger to the retina than others. The NBA rolls on with another loaded slate on Wednesday night.
Four different eight-win teams will play tonight. Two of those in the same game as the Sixers host the Celtics. Elsewhere the upstart Timberwolves are in Phoenix as the Suns are healthy for the first time this year. Nothing comes quicker in the NBA than hitting a first basket prop, it’s the fastest sweat in the sport. Here are the two best first basket props for Wednesday November 15th!
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NBA First Basket Bets Tonight: Odds & Picks
NBA Celtics-Sixers First Basket Bet Tonight
This is a typical game where the Philadelphia 76ers exert all their regular season energy to beat a team they most likely will lose to in the playoffs. Philly comes off a home loss last night to the Pacers, while Boston took the night off after winning their third straight game on Monday.
The big issue tonight for winning the tip is Boston may be without Kristaps Porzingis, as he deals with a contusion in his knee. Boston wins nearly 80% of the tips so far on the year and the Sixers are bottom third in the league. That might change as Porzingis is great at winning the tip – coming off another W against New York’s Mitchell Robinson.
Still, even with losing the opening tip, Boston’s best odds come outside Porzingis, and Joel Embiid on the other side. If Embiid sits – looking more likely – then the Celtics should win the opening tip and go right after Paul Reed. It’s certainly a lot to jumble but the clearest path is actually Tyrese Maxey getting the first shot.
We missed Tobias Harris last night by a bucket – the first Sixer to score just not overall – but without Embiid, Maxey needs to get the offense going right away. Deferring to anyone else would be foolish, so bank on Maxey being the first scorer tonight across both teams.
Best NBA First Basket Bet Prop: Tyrese Maxey +650 at FanDuel for 0.25 Units
NBA Timberwolves-Suns First Basket Bet Tonight
Neither of these teams are particuarly great at winning the opening tip, a little more surprising this year with Jusuf Nurkic on the Suns. The Suns big man was sneaky good at this last year, where the Wolves just struggle despite having Rudy Gobert. Minnesota just lost another tip last night to Draymond Green before the Warriors forward lost his mind.
The first points scored in that game came from the line and from Gobert. Minnesota missed a couple of shots including a three from Anthony Edwards, but their leading scoring threat saw multiple possessions go by before his first shot. Phoenix has multiple players each with two first basket makes on the year but is fully healthy for the first time.
The “Big 3” of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Durant will make their first appearance of the year, adding an extra variable of confusion as to where the ball goes first. In fact, it’s more of a reinforcement to try and find a fourth option with the best number as opposed to something forced with Booker.
The better option combined with the value would be Nurkic making the first shot – or free throw on FanDuel – at +750. He beats out three other Suns players and two Wolves guys with better value at +750. The Suns establishing an inside presence right away makes sense, softening things up for their primary scorers, all three of them.
Best NBA First Basket Prop: Jusuf Nurkic +750 at FanDuel for 0.25 Units
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