Betting on teams to win basketball games is all well and good, but sometimes you want to sweat a prop bet that's a little more fun. Especially if an early payout frees up your winnings right away to make some live bets or wagers on later games in the slate.
First basket scorer has become an increasingly popular NBA prop bet, and it's easy to see why. It's pretty straightforward – if your player scores the first basket (field goals only, so free throws don't count) of the game you win.
Here are the top first basket scorer picks for today's NBA slate on Tuesday, October 25.
1. Luka Doncic (+370)
No player in the NBA with 20-plus minutes played this season has a usage rate higher than Luka Doncic's 39.2%, and that tracks after he led the NBA at 37.4% last season. It's not jus t his overall usage rate that makes Doncic such an incredible value as a first basket scorer bet, though. In 20 minutes played with the Mavs' full starting five on the court his usage rate explodes to a ridiculous 55.2%. He took the first field goal attempt in both the first and second half of the Mavs' last game, and we can expect him to be the first Dallas player on the board most nights.
2. Ivica Zubac (+600)
The Clippers haven't announced whether Kawhi Leonard will be back in the starting lineup with Paul George sidelined tonight, and that uncertainty leaves everyone on the team with some long odds. In what should be a blowout against the Oklahoma City Thunder, I'm going to gamble on Tyron Lue continuing to play it safe with Kawhi. We've only seen a small amount of the Clips' offense Kawhi, PG and top bench scoring option John Wall off the floor so far this season, but in that sample the shot distribution has been pretty even. Ivica Zubac has the highest usage rate of any of the starters in that sample, and it would be no surprise to see the offense run through him a little more than usual as the Clippers simplify their starting offense with George out. And of course, it's easy to like a Clipper to be the first player on the board in a game when they're 9.5-point favorites.
3. Andrew Wiggins (+750)
Andrew Wiggins has been the Golden State Warriors' first bas ket scorer in two of three games this season, and he's taken their first field goal attempt in all three. As a team it's probably the Suns that are more likely to get on the board first, but Wiggins trailing Stephen Curry (+500) in the odds by such a large margin highlights him as a big underdog value here.