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 February 8. 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 February 8.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
CHECK OUT THE SPORTS GAMBLING PODCAST’S DAILY BEST BETS
NBA First Scorer Props – February 8
Atlanta Hawks vs. Washington Wizards
Tipoff – 7:00 pm EST
Capital One Arena – Washington, DC
Broadcast – NBA TV
The Hawks pop down to the national’s capital for a Saturday matchup in which they’ll have plenty of early game advantages. If you just look at the season averages, those leads may not look that impressive. They do have a lead over the Wizards in the tip win percentage, but only by 6.9%. However, that does not factor in Onyeka Okongwu taking the tips in the place of injured Clint Capela. Okongwu is winning the tip at 63.6% clip, which gives him a 17.3% lead over Alexandre Sarr. When you add in that the Wizards are one of the five worst teams in the league in terms of converting, it looks like it’s all Hawks here.
Friday’s win over the Bucks saw Hawks’ superstar Trae Young getting most of the early action. However, if you look at the three games before that, there are two other names that stick out – Zaccharie Risacher and De’Andre Hunter. If you look at those three games, the two of them combined for 66.7% of all the early shots (defined as the team’s first three shots in a given game). With Hunter having had the first bucket recently, I’m going to spread the love and play Risacher here.
First Scorer Bet for February 8: Zaccharie Risacher (+800)
Portland Trail Blazers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Tipoff – 8:00 pm EST
Target Center – Minneapolis, MN
Broadcast – NBA TV
The Blazers are an above average team when it comes to winning the tip. They’re winning 53.9% of all the jumps on the year. With the team getting the first possession also scoring first 66.1% of the time, you might expect that the Blazers are also fairly good at scoring first. However, the opposite is true – they rank 29th in the league in first buckets. Now they’ll face the Timberwolves, who actually are winning tips at a better rate than Portland. They also rank in the top ten of first scores on the year. It should be a no-brainer to play someone on the Minnesota side on Saturday.
It might be a touch chalky, but you can’t overlook the volume of Anthony Edwards right now. If you look at the last three games for the Timberwolves, Edwards took the team’s first shot in every single one of them. He’s also taken the first shot in two of the three games in which Minnesota has played Portland this year. The number won’t blow you out of the water, but there is plenty of value in that spot.
First Scorer Bet for February 8: Anthony Edwards (+500)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first scorer bets for February 8, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
