The Eastern Conference Finals tips off on Wednesday. It’s a matchup that I’m not sure anyone was predicting. The high seeds all fell by the wayside while some plucky underdogs had their day. Now, the Pacers travel to the Knicks, who are the highest seed left. While the games in this bracket were unpredictable, one thing was not – the first buckets. We’re back at it again with first bucket props for May 21.
We’ve run the data, we’ve looked at the trends – now, come check out our first bucket props for May 21.
CHECK OUT THE SPORTS GAMBLING PODCAST’S DAILY BEST BETS
NBA First Bucket Props – May 21
Indiana Pacers vs. New York Knicks
Tipoff – 8:00 pm EST
Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
Broadcast – TNT
In this brand new series, you might see the home team’s numbers on the tip and first bucket and shy away. Karl-Anthony Towns was below average on the tip, winning just 42.9% during the regular season. The Knicks were also 23rd in the league at finishing the first bucket at 44.9%. While those two are brutal numbers, they represent wide leads over their Pacers counterparts. Myles Turner is a whopping 16.4% behind Towns in the tip numbers and the Pacers are one of the seven teams behind the Knicks (26th overall). As a result, I think we’ll look to the Knicks for a play on Wednesday.
Maybe unsurprisingly, but a lot of the early shots have come through either Jalen Brunson or the aforementioned Towns. In fact, they both have taken one of the first three shots for the Knicks in each of the last three games. Mikal Bridges also has been in there, but he already cashed for us at +1000 last series and it seems unlikely to happen again. As a result, we’re left with the two heavy hitters. I think the size of Towns is going to be an issue for the Pacers, so let’s roll with him to get on the board first.
First Bucket Bet for May 21: Karl-Anthony Towns (+500)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first bucket bets for May 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.
