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 26. 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 26.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Scorer Props – October 26
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Chicago Bulls
Tipoff – 8:00 pm EST
United Center – Chicago, IL
Broadcast – NBA TV
Oddly, the Thunder sent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out for the tip against Jamal Murray in their opener. It seemed like some kind of pre-planned stunt, so I expect them to return to normalcy and Chet Holmgren on Saturday. If so, this should be one of his easier jumps on the year. Holmgren won 58.8% of his tips last year and, as a result, the Thunder were an above average team on the first bucket.
To make matters even better, he’ll jump Nikola Vucvevic, who was one of the worst in the league at getting the first possession. He won just 34.3% of his jumps last year, which put him in the bottom three of the league amongst jump guys with at least half of his team’s tips.
If we’re looking for someone on the Thunder to go get that first bucket, look no further than Holmgren himself. He was one of the very best in the NBA at scoring first with 14 successes. That represented nearly a third of all of the Thunder’s first scores. Also, while Nikola Vucevic has gotten better on defense, he’s still a touch below league average in terms of his defensive rating. Plus, guarding on the perimeter is even more tricky for him, and Holmgren could force him to do that as well.
First Scorer Bet for October 26: Chet Holmgren (+500)
Sacramento Kings vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Tipoff – 10:30 pm EST
crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
Broadcast – NBA TV
Anthony Davis hasn’t won a tip yet this season, but that should change in this game. He will face off with Domantas Sabonis, who is one of the few names that is worse than the aformentioned Nikola Vucevic on the tip. He won just 28.6% of his tips in the 2023-24 season, which is 28.0% worse than Davis. That gives me all the confidence that Davis will get the tip – giving the Lakers the higher likelihood of getting that first bucket.
In the season opener, we cashed on Rui Hachimura is a big way. While it would seem unlikely that he’d get another one so early, the amount of early looks he’s getting is hard to overlook. The ball went right to him for an early three-point attempt in game one of the season. The second game saw more of the same. He scored three of their first seven points in that game and took 40% of their shots in the first two minutes. The number is going to be juicy again, so let’s ride it until the wheels fall off.
First Scorer Bet for October 26: Rui Hachimura (+700)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first scorer bets for October 26, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
