NBA First Scorer Props – January 16

First Scorer Props January 16 - NBA First Scorer Props - First Scorer Bets - Come tail along with these gems today with usSome 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 January 16. 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 January 16.

Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.

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NBA First Scorer Props – January 16

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

Tipoff – 7:30 pm EST
Paycom Center – Oklahoma City, OK
Broadcast – TNT

The Thunder are as average of a team as you can get when it comes to the first bucket. They enter Thursday’s action with a 50.0% win rate on tipoffs and a 50.0% success rate on first scores. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, are far from average. They currently are the best team in the league when it comes to winning the tip (84.6%). On top of that, they’re making good use of those first possessions that they get. They’re 4th in the league in terms of first buckets. As a result, we’ll head to Cleveland for a pick on this one.

If you look at the first three shots from the Cavaliers over the last three games, one name stands out well above the others. Evan Mobley has taken 44.4% of those early shots, which includes at least one in every single game. Just two games ago he took two of the first three shots. You can’t ignore that kind of volume on any shooter – particularly against a team that has an injured starting center.

First Scorer Bet for January 16: Evan Mobley (+500)

Los Angeles Clippers vs. Portland Trail Blazers

Tipoff – 10:00 pm EST
Moda Center – Portland, OR
Broadcast – NBA TV

Another team with plenty of advantages on Thursday is the Clippers as they head up North to take on the Trail Blazers. While Los Angeles is just slightly above average in terms of scoring the first bucket (51.3%), that gives them a hug lead over Portland. The Blazers rank 29th in that stat and are scoring first in just 30.8% of all of their games. Additionally, the Clippers should win the tip pretty easily here – they rank 7th in the league in that category with 61.5%.

If we take another look at those early shot logs, as we did with the previous game, two names are front and center for the Clippers. Ivica Zubac and Norman Powell have combined to take 77.8% of the early shots over the last two. I, personally, am going to side with Zubac for two reasons here. Firstly, Powell scored the first bucket last time, and it’s hard to repeat that. Secondly, Zubac has taken the first shot in two of the last three games, which should give him an advantage here.

First Scorer Bet for January 16: Ivica Zubac (+500)

 

If you’d like even more info to help make your first scorer bets for January 16, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar. 

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