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 December 1. 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 December 1.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Scorer Props – December 1
Miami Heat vs. Toronto Raptors
Tipoff – 6:00 pm EST
Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ON
Broadcast – NBA TV
The Heat with Bam Adebayo have been a well-above average team on the tips over the last few years. This year is no different as they enter Sunday’s action having won 58.8% of the tips. That’ll give them an 18.8% advantage over these Raptors and on the surface, that might look like enough to go to the Heat with a pick. However, the Heat have been one of the very worst teams in the league at converting those chances. Despite winning all of those tips, they have scored first in just 29.4% of the games they’ve played. That’s good enough for 29th in the league and 25.6% lower than the Raptors success rate. As a result, we’ll grab someone from north of the border here.
With the injury to Gradey Dick, who had been a big first bucket option for the Raptors, there’s a bit of a void there. Look no further than his recent replacement to fill that void and pick up a first score for us today – Ja’Kobe Walker. Walker has only been in the starting lineup for two games, but he’s become immediately relevant in this market. In his first game, he took two of the first three Raptors shots and managed the first bucket. While he didn’t get it in the second game. he again took one of the first three shots. With that early volume and these longshot odds, he’s worth anothe stab on Sunday.
First Scorer Bet for December 1: Ja’Kobe Walker (+1100)
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets
Tipoff – 7:00 pm EST
Toyota Center – Houston, TX
Broadcast – NBA TV
Isaiah Hartenstein has been excellent on the tip this year so far, winning all three of the chances that he’s had. However, I expect that to regress back towards the mean here – especially given his low success rate on tipoffs last year. In 2023-24, Hartenstein won just 24.0% of the tips that he saw. Alperen Sengun has been right around league average for the last two years. His current tip average is 52.6%, which should be enough for me to have faith that he’ll grab the opener here. Additionally, nobody in the league scores first buckets at a higher rate than the Rockets’ 75.0% – which is higher than the Thunfer by 32.9%.
One of the best numbers on the board for this one is Dillon Brooks. While he hasn’t scored first much this year, and he’s taking less shots than some of the other names on this squad, he did take both of their first two shots last game. In the game prior, he took their second shot and two of their first four. Much like with Walker, we can’t ignore this kind of volume and with this kind of number attached to it.
First Scorer Bet for December 1: Dillon Brooks (+1100)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first scorer bets for December 1, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
