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 21. 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 21.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Scorer Props – February 21
Detroit Pistons vs. San Antonio Spurs
Tipoff – 8:30 pm EST
Moody Center – Austin, TX
Broadcast – NBA TV
The Spurs have been a team I’ve avoided on the first bucket due to their wildly diverging statistics. Currently, the team who wins the tip is getting the first bucket at a 65.7% clip. The Spurs have won 71.1% of their tips this year, but somehow still rank 24th in the NBA with just 44.2% of the first scores. Now we have a team not making good use of their chances, and they’ll suddenly have a lot fewer of them. With Victor Wembanyama going down, Bismack Biyombo will now get the tips. He lost his first tip against Nick Richards last time out. Although he might not be terrible, you have to imagine he’ll be a step down from Wemby.
If you’re looking for a name to play on the Pistons, there are really only two interesting ones for me. Ausar Thompson and Tobias Harris have gotten the lion’s share of the work early in games. If you take their first three shots in each of the last three games, those two account for 77.8% of those shots. Harris has scored two first buckets in that time and Thompson has the most recent one. The bulk favors Harris a bit more here, but that line on Thompson (+1100) is really tempting.
First Scorer Bet for February 21: Tobias Harris (+600)
Golden State Warriors vs. Sacramento Kings
Tipoff – 10:00 pm EST
Golden 1 Center – Sacramento, CA
Broadcast – NBA TV
There aren’t many times I would back the Kings in a first bucket scenario, but this is one of them. They have some ugly numbers when it comes to scoring first, but the Warriors are just a few percentage points ahead in that column. Meanwhile, the Kings will have a big advantage when it comes to getting the first possession. They’ll have a 22.7% lead when it comes to tip win percentage in this one. Add in that Draymond Green has been taking some of those tips and he’s even lower than the Warriors’ season average – there’s even more reason to like Sacramento here.
Zach LaVine came out the gate last time and took all three of the first three Sacramento shots. It might be tempting to go with him, but if you look at the three games prior, a new leader emerges. Malik Monk is the only player to take shots in the first three in each of the three games prior. He’s seen a lot of early action for the squad and still has a reasonable number to get on the boards here.
First Scorer Bet for February 21: Malik Monk (+700)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first scorer bets for February 21, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
