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 23. 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 23.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Scorer Props – October 23
Chicago Bulls vs. New Orleans Pelicans
Tipoff – 8:00 pm EST
Smoothie King Center – New Orleans, LA
Broadcast – NBA TV
Normally, with Nikola Vucevic on the tip, I’m not usually looking to the Bulls. However, the Pelican’s projection starting five is wildly short. The tallest guy in their starting lineup is set to be Brandon Ingram at just 6’8″. Either he or Herb Jones (their 6’7″ center) will be taking the tip. So despite the fact that Vucevic was only winning tips at a 34.3% rate last year, I still think he’s likely to win this one. In addition to that, the Bulls were good at scoring first even when they didn’t get the tip last year. They did so at nearly a 10% better clip last year than their tip average. That means if they do win the tip, this should be a member of the Bulls without issue.
The Bulls really spread out their first buckets last year. Vucevic himself lead the way with nine – meaning nobody on their team went into double figures. However, there is someone in their starting five in the season opener that did have ten or more. Newly traded for Josh Giddey managed to score first eleven times last year. When you combine that information with the fact that both Colby White and Patrick Williams are banged up, I like Giddey’s chances to get on the board right away for his new squad.
First Scorer Bet for October 23: Josh Giddey (+950)
Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Tipoff – 10:00 pm EST
Intuit Dome – Inglewood, CA
Broadcast – ESPN
Ivica Zubac will take the opening tip for the Clippers and few players in the league were more futile at the operation last year. He won just 29.2% of his tipoffs last year, which put him third to last amongst jump guys with at least half a season’s worth of tips. It won’t get easier for Zubac in the first tip of the year. The Suns will send out Jusuf Nurkic, who had a 69.6% win rate on the tip last year. That 40.4% buffer between the two means that the Suns should easily win this tip. With plenty of good shooters on hand and the fact that tip winners took 64.6% of all first buckets last year – we’ll go with someone from Phoenix.
There are a number of guys in this starting lineup that see a lot of shot attempts. However, I’m going to go down list a little bit to Bradley Beal. Despite being third in shot attempts during last season, he still had eight first scores for the Suns. That lags a bit behind Kevin Durant, but ahead of Devin Booker. With the number being a bit better than Durant’s, I’ll roll the dice with Beal as the first to get a hoop.
First Scorer Bet for October 23: Bradley Beal (+650)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first scorer bets for October 23, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
