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 bucket props. And we’ve decided to pass that knowledge on to you with our first bucket bets for April 3. 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 bucket props for April 3.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Bucket Props – April 3
Minnesota timberwolves vs. Brooklyn Nets
Tipoff – 7:30 pm EST
Barclays Center – Brooklyn, NY
Broadcast – NBA TV
In this earlier game, the visiting Timberwolves have some solid advantages in all the metrics that help predict first buckets. Their past first bucket success is a solid 8.6% higher than that of the Nets. Additionally, they are much better at securing the first possession of the game. The Timberwolves are well above average in that metric with a 55.3% tip win rate. The Nets on the other hand fall well short at 41.3%. With the tip winners taking home 65.7% of the first buckets on the year, that should be enough to side with Minnesota in this one.
If we’re getting greedy and looking for a specific player in this one, I’d stay with the chalk in this one. Not only is Anthony Edwards getting a lot of the early looks for the Timberwolves, but he also fits the bill of the type of player that Brooklyn gives up first buckets to. They last four players to score first buckets against them have been guards taking shots from the outside. I’ll ride both of those trends here even if it takes a bit off the top when it comes to odds.
First Bucket Bet for April 3: Anthony Edwards (+400)
Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Tipoff – 10:00 pm EST
crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
Broadcast – TNT
In the nightcap, the indicators are even stronger than the early game. The Lakers have wild advantages over the Warriors when it comes to getting on the board first. The Lakers rank 6th in first bucket success rate with a 13.3% advantage over the 26th place Warriors. Those numbers are even more dominant on the tipoff. The Lakers rank 4th in that metric and hold a 22.7% advantage there. Even though this should be a close game on the scoreboard, the first bucket shouldn’t go down that way.
While we went chalk on the first play, I’m going to go completely in the other direction with this one. I’ll take the player with the worst odds on the board in Rui Hachimura. The main reason for that is that he has a lot of volume in the early game lately. He’s the only player other than Luka Doncic (whose odds are one-third of Hachimura’s) to take one of the Laker’s first three shots in back-to-back games. Over the course of the full season, he’s also been active in the early game. I like his chances to sneak one in here and cash big.
First Bucket Bet for April 3: Rui Hachimura (+1300)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first bucket bets for April 3, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
