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 25. 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 25.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Scorer Props – January 25
Miami Heat vs. Brookln Nets
Tipoff – 6:00 pm EST
Barclays Center – Brooklyn, NY
Broadcast – NBA TV
The visiting Heat walk into Brooklyn with all the advantages that we look for when picking a team to score the first bucket. They have a massive lead on the tip. They’ve won 69.7% of the tips on the season, putting them squarely in the top five in the league. The Nets on the other hand are in the bottom five of the league with 36.4%. With tip winners scoring first 65.2% of the time over the course of the season, that should already be enough. However, when you add in that Brooklyn has the third worse rate of actually finishing first scores, it’s even more obvious that this is a spot for the Heat.
It’s hard to look at recent games to see what the Heat typically do for early shots because the team is so different with and without Jimmy Butler on the court. Now in his second suspension on the season, we’ll look to the last suspension to see what the team’s early action looked like. A lot of the early shots were favoring Haywood Highsmith – including a lot of shots from the outside. The problem with that is that he is no longer in the starting five. So why not go with his replacement? Fellow big man, Kel’el Ware is putting up at least five threes a game over the last three games and has 20+ points as well.
First Scorer Bet for January 25: Kel’el Ware (+600)
Philadelphia 76ers vs. Chicago Bulls
Tipoff – 8:00 pm EST
United Center – Chicago, IL
Broadcast – NBA TV
Despite some successes in a couple recent games, the Bulls are still an auto-fade for me in the first bucket market. They rank dead last in both first bucket success rate and tip win percentage – the latter of which is a pathetic 13.6%. While the 76ers are a below average team on the tip themselves, they look to get back Andre Dummond on Saturday, who is winning 62.5% of his tips. Even with a lower chance of winning the tip, they are a top ten team in terms of scoring first, so with Drummond back against this Bulls squad, you have to like them here.
The Bulls have chronically given up first baskets to opposing bigs, but there isn’t really a big I want to trust here on the 76ers. However, Kelly Oubre might suffice as a stand-in for a big. He’s taken one of the team’s first three shots in each of the last three games. He also has plenty of first bucket success on the year to build on.
First Scorer Bet for January 25: Kelly Oubre Jr. (+650)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first scorer bets for January 25, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.