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 January 7. 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 January 7.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Scorer Props – January 7
Houston rockets vs. Washington Wizards
Tipoff – 7:00 pm EST
Capital One Arena – Washington, DC
Broadcast – NBA TV
On Tuesday we have a pair of games on the surface, that would seem to be pretty close when it comes to the early game action. The Wizards actually have a touch better record when it comes to the tip than the Rockets. They have won the tip 48.5% of the time, whereas the Rockets have grabbed the opening possession just 45.7% of the time. However, it’s what they do with it that matters.
The Wizards have used that 48.5% and have managed to score first just 36.4% of the time. The lack of clear direction in their early possessions has led to turnovers as well as missed shots. The Rockets are the opposite – they have the second highest first bvucket conversion rate in the league (68.6%). Despite losing Jabari Smith Jr., that should continue with a first score here.
If we’re working with the Rockets lineup, I’m going with Jalen Green. Over the last three games, he’s dotted the play log and is clearly getting some early looks. Additionally, the last five first buckets given up by the Wizards has been to rangey guard-types. While the Rockets leaned on Amen Thompson last game, I imagine that was just to get him going into the starting lineup. Look for Green to get his usual workload here.
First Scorer Bet for January 7: Jalen Green (+550)
Boston Celtics vs. Denver Nuggets
Tipoff – 10:00 pm EST
Ball Arena – Denver, CO
Broadcast – TNT
Here’s another game where the tip data isn’t all that helpful. The Celtics hold the advantage in this one with a 47.2% tip rate – which outpaces the Nuggets by 3.1%. However, the trend for the Celtics this year is to fire away from deep and that doesn’t exclude the early game. Those shots are low percentage and as a result have the Celtics scoring first just 44.4% of the time. The Nuggets meanwhile have a 64.7% success rate and rank in the top five of the league. We’ll grab a hometown name for this one.
If heading to Denver for a play, why not look at Michael Porter Jr. Although he wasn’t getting a lot of early looks last time out, the two games prior were all about Porter Jr. He took each of the first two shots in those two games and did have the first bucket in one of them. I’ll look for a return to that here and a big cash.
First Scorer Bet for January 7: Michael Porter Jr. (+800)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first scorer bets for January 7, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
