We have now entered into do or die territory. The Timberwolves are holding on by a thread going into Wednesday’s action and the Thunder look to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals. While the conclusion of the series is an important outcome, it’s not what we’re looking for. We’re paying attention to just the first minute of the game or so for our first bucket props for May 28.
We’ve run the data, we’ve look at the trends – now, come check out our first bucket props for May 28.
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NBA First Bucket Props – May 28
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Tipoff – 8:30 pm EST
Paycom Center – Oklahoma City, OK
Broadcast – ESPN
In what could be the clinching game of the series, I’m going with the Thunder to score first. The regular season stats point to the Thunder for first scoring pretty clearly. They have a 1.9% advantage in finishing their first buckets and that’s without Chet Holmgren taking the tip all year. He had a 60.0% win rate on tips, which is 10.7% higher than their team average. It is also 10.5% higher than Rudy Gobert. With tip winners getting 65.7% of the first buckets in the regular season and the Thunder being better at finishing them anyways, I like them to get on the board first here.
I’m going with a surprising name for the individual player to score first in this one. Isaiah Hartenstein has been getting a wild amount of volume early in these games. It’s hard to look the other way on him. If you take the first three shot attempts by the Thunder in each game, Hartenstein makes up 33.3% of all of those shots. That includes hitting one first bucket already. That was in Game 3, where he scored Oklahoma City’s first four points.
First Bucket Bet for May 28: Isaiah Hartenstein (+850)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first bucket bets for May 28, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
