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 January 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 January 22.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Scorer Props – January 22
Milwaukee Bucks vs. New Orleans Pelicans
Tipoff – 8:00 pm EST
Smoothie King Center – New Orleans, LA
Broadcast – NBA TV
The visitors are the clear side you want to be on in the visit to the Smoothie King Center. While the data slightly favors home teams over the course of the season, it’s not by a wide enough margin to ignore all the other indicators in this one. The Bucks are putting up way better numbers on the jumpball – winning the tip 34.6% more often than the Pelicans. They also have a much better success rate on first buckets. They hold a 13.9% advantage in that category, of which the Pelicans rank in the bottom third of the league. With all those data points laid out, you have to favor Milwaukee early on.
Over their four-game win streak, it’s been Giannis Antetokounmpo getting the lion’s share of early shots. However, there is one player who is out performing the numbers the books have been posting, and that’s Andre Jackson Jr. The second-year guard out of UConn regularly has been getting some of the team’s earliest shots, and with a big number next to his name, it’s worth a roll of the dice.
First Scorer Bet for January 22: Andre Jackson Jr. (+1400)
Golden State Warriors vs. Sacramento Kings
Tipoff – 10:00 pm EST
Scotiabank Arena – Sacramento, CA
Broadcast – ESPN
When you look at these two teams on paper, there is almost nothing separating the two. They actually have the exact same success rate on first buckets. They also have near the same tip win percentage – a 4.8% edge goes to the Warriors. So how then do we separate out what we see in the numbers and why would I choose this game to break down? The answer is that the Kings are hot in the early bucket market. Over their last nine games, they’ve scored first six times – which is way above their season average. With the Warriors below average in that same stretch, we’ll go with the hot hand.
If you like the Kings to score first, as I do, you have to like Domantas Sabonis. The Gonzaga-product has been the main early action for Sacramento all year. Not only is he getting a lot of the attempts, he has an inordinate amount of their first scores. Of their 19 first scores, he has 36.8% of all of them. Even as a chalkier play, there is a lot of value on him here.
First Scorer Bet for January 22: Domantas Sabonis (+600)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first scorer bets for January 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.
