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 scorer props. And we’ve decided to pass that knowledge on to you with our first scorer bets for October 22. 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 in the 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 scorer props for October 22.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Scorer Props – October 22
New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics
Tipoff – 7:30 pm EST
TD Garden – Boston, Massachusetts
Broadcast – TNT
When this game was originally put in the schedule, I’m not sure many people imagined the tipoff would be between Karl-Anthony Towns and Al Horford. However, after an injury and a trade that’s exactly what we have. As a result, I expect the Celtics to win the top here. Horford was above average on tips last year – getting 58.8% of them. Additionally, Towns jumped just three times all season. It’s worth noting that he did win two of those three, but the loss was to Al Horford in a game last January.
If the Celtics grab the opening tip, I also like their chances to be the first team to score. They scored first 63.5% of the time last year, which was first in the NBA by nearly 5%. As far as a name to circle, there are only two players from Boston who managed multiple first buckets with Horford on the tip. Those two are Jaylen Brown and Horford himself. With it being the first game of the year, I can’t imagine Horford will be letting it fly early – so let’s grab Brown out of the gate.
First Scorer Bet for October 22: Jaylen Brown (+450)
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Tipoff – 10:00 pm EST
crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, California
Broadcast – TNT
Anthony Davis was taking nearly all of the tips last year for the Lakers and putting up good numbers as well. He won 56.6% of the tips he saw, which was 9.8% better than his counterpart Rudy Gobert. With the tip winners taking 64.6% of all of the first buckets, that margin is already enough to lean to a name on the Lakers. It’s even more so that way when you consider trading away Karl-Anthony Towns, who had a hand in 20.5% of all of the Timberwovles first buckets last year – either by winning the tip or scoring first himself.
As for who I like on opening night for the Lakers, there were only four Lakers last year with at least a half dozen first scores. While Davis has the most by a wide margin – 13 times last year – the numbers are a lot closer when you limit to just games that Anthony Davis won the tip. Davis scored ten times with those circumstances and second was Rui Hachimura with six. That’s right. With Davis winning the tip, Hachimura scored more first buckets that LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell. Plus, with a number like this, it has to be worth an early stab.
First Scorer Bet for October 22: Rui Hachimura (+950)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first scorer bets for October 22, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
