Some people like to sweat out a bet for 48 hard minutes – others like immediate satisfaction. Count us as being in the latter, which is why we like to get down with NBA first FG props. And we’ve decided to pass that knowledge on to you with our first FG bets for December 2. Go here for NBA Championship odds.
Of course, there are plenty out there taking blind guesses at this stuff. It’s easy to pick the most popular player or look at what happened last game. However, we spent the time pouring through the analytics to make sure that we give you the best odds to stay in the green on these first FG props for December 2.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games, and when you do, be sure to check out the odds over at BetRivers – they have some of the best odds out there.
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NBA First FG Props – December 2
Orlando Magic vs. Brooklyn Nets
Tipoff – 7:00 pm EST
Barclays Center – Brooklyn, New York
Broadcast – NBA League Pass
When you look at the raw data on the tipoff it already looks bad for the Magic. They have just over half of the success rate as the Nets do on the tip. However, it’s actually far worse than that. A lot of the positives for the Magic came before Wendell Carter got hurt. Now Goga Bitadze is 1-13 on jumpballs (good for 7.1%). Meanwhile, many of the negatives for the Nets came while Nix Claxton was injured. Now that he and his 77.8% tip average is back, this should easily favor the Nets.
There are three guys on the Nets that are taking a lot of the early shots. Spencer Dinwiddie, Cameron Johnson and Mikal Bridges – these three are taking the vast majority of the shots in the first three minutes of the game. Bridges is taking more shots overall compared to the other two and he’s shooting at a higher percentage as well. Let’s ride with him using those facts.
First FG Bet for December 2: Mikal Bridges (+440)
Portland Trailblazers vs. Utah Jazz
Tipoff – 9:30 pm EST
Delta Center – Salt Lake City, Utah
Broadcast – NBA League Pass
This is another game where the team numbers don’t tell the whole story. The Blazers do have significantly better numbers on the jump (19% better than the Jazz). They also are slightly better on the first bucket at just over 12% better. However, the numbers are trending even worse for the Jazz. Walker Kessler is 7-1 on the year, but has been coming off the bench since his injury. With Omer Yurtseven at just 1-3, this one should head to the Blazers.
These two played just a week and a half ago. When they did, Jerami Grant scored the first hoop – who just so happens to be the guy with the most shot attempts on the team. While duplicating those efforts would make sense, I’m looking at a contrarian play here. Toumani Camara got a weirdly high level of action last time these two played. He scored six of the teams first seventeen points that day. He also has two first buckets on the year already.
First FG Bet for December 2: Toumani Camara (+1400)
Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Tipoff – 10:30 pm EST
crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, California
Broadcast – NBA League Pass
Anthony Davis should be jumping against Alperen Sengun on Saturday. Sengun has a slightly better jump percentage than Davis does (about 4.5% better on the year). That difference isn’t enough to sway things all by itself, especially when you consider the first field goal numbers. The Lakers getting higher percentage early shots has them at 55% for first field goals compared to just 37.5% for the Rockets. As a result, we’ll take the hometown crew here.
If you’re taking a Laker it almost always has to be Anthonmy Davis. He had the best first bucket percentage of any player in the league last season. He has three of the Lakers’ eleven first buckets on the year. That’s not nearly the rate, but even more of a reason to expect him to get back at it this weekend.
First FG Bet for December 2: Anthony Davis (+410)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first FG bets for December 2, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
