The NBA season has returned, and that means we can start to make some money on first basket bets. While plenty of first basket wagering comes down to random chance, they’re a fun sweat, and they’re over fast! Let’s dive into the NBA first basket odds for tonight’s Lakers-Nuggets and Suns-Warriors games as we hope to find the best bet. If you’re hungry for more action, check out our NBA betting tools or our NBA betting promos! We’re targeting FanDuel for this one, and all first basket props there are inclusive of free throws.
Best First Basket Odds & Bets for Tuesday, Oct. 24
Lakers-Nuggets First Basket Odds
Superstar center Nikola Jokic is the favorite to score the first basket in tonight’s game between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers. He slots in at odds of +480 on FanDuel, which converts to an implied probability of 17.4%. Anthony Davis and LeBron James follow him at +500 and +600, respectively.
Although Jokic is a high-volume scorer, he loves to pass, and teammate Jamal Murray barely trailed him in usage rate, 25.6% to 26.3%, last year. James (32.2%) and Davis (27.7%) beat them both. The Lakers also won the opening tip 63% of the time last year, higher than the 48% of the time Denver won it.
Suns-Warriors First Basket Odds
Star guard Devin Booker went from 50-50- to play to probable over the course of Tuesday afternoon. He is now the favorite to score the first basket in the Suns-Warriors game. With the opening tip likely between Kevon Looney and Jusuf Nurkic, the Suns have a two-inch height advantage. Booker’s odds of +440 convert to 18.5%.
Behind Booker, Kevin Durant owns the next-best odds at +500. The small-ball Warriors don’t appear until Stephen Curry at +650 and Klay Thompson at +700. Curry’s usage rate (29.7%) far exceeded Thompson’s (25.6%). Booker (30.9%) also beat out Durant (27.3%) in the metric in post-deadline play.
OddsShopper’s NBA Tools & Tips
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