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 29. 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 29.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Scorer Props – January 29
Dallas Mavericks vs. New Orleans Pelicans
Tipoff – 8:00 pm EST
Smoothie King Center – New Orleans, LA
Broadcast – NBA TV
You won’t find an advantage as clear as this one when it comes to the game or the first bucket. The Mavericks have quietly become one of the best teams out of the gate in the league. They score first 63.8% of the time, which puts them as the second best team in the NBA in that statistic. Meanwhile, the Pelicans are scoring first at just a fraction of that rate. They score first a mere 40.4% of the time, which makes them the third worse at that metric.
With Luka Doncic out of commission, there is one player leading the charge for Dallas. PJ Washington has an absurb amount of early action this year. He’s getting extra early looks now, but he might not have even needed them to be a value here. He has nine first buckets on the season, putting him near the top of the league. I’ll ride that to double digits on Wednesday night.
First Scorer Bet for January 29: PJ Washington (+500)
Oklahoma City thunder vs. Golden State Warriors
Tipoff – 10:00 pm EST
Chase Center – San Francisco, CA
Broadcast – NBA TV
The Thunder are just a middle of the pack team in all the metrics we look at. They have a 50.0% first score success rate and just a 47.8% tip win percentage. While the Warriors aren’t that far behind when it comes to scoring first, they are far worse on the tip. They get the first possession just 28.9% of the time, which puts them in the bottom five of the league. With the tip winners currently scoring first at a 64.8% clip, that means we head to Oklahoma City with a pick.
Jalen Williams has been a big part of the early action for the Thunder lately. He took each of the first two shots in their last game, and took two of their first four in the game before. It’s hard to overlook that kind of volume here, especially being as he fits the profile of someone who scores first against the Warriors.
First Scorer Bet for January 29: Jalen Williams (+550)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first scorer bets for January 29, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
