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 11. 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 11.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Bucket Props – April 11
Miami Heat vs. New Orleans Pelicans
Tipoff – 8:00 pm EST
Smoothie King Center – New Orleans, LA
Broadcast – NBA TV
At this stage in the season, we really have to look at what people are playing for. The Heat still have a chance to crawl out of the 10-seed and get a home game to start the play-in playoff. The Pelicans, on the other hand, would prefer to lose on Friday. As a result we see a lot of the Heat players starting in their normal spots. The Pelicans have a couple of shadow injuries that will keep factors out. Even with their best guys in there, the Heat have a 34.6% advantage on the tip. And with tip winners getting 65.7% of all first buckets on the year, you have to play the Heat here.
As for a specific player, it’s hard to track down tendancies for the Heat. They had a few injuries and their lineup has not been stable for the last few weeks. However, if you look at the last four games with this lineup in tact, one name you’ll see in the early part of the play log is Andrew Wiggins. He took one of the first shots again in their last game and I like his chances of being the guy to break the 0-0 tie.
First Bucket Bet for April 11: Andrew Wiggins (+500)
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Utah Jazz
Tipoff – 9:30 pm EST
Delta Center – Salt Lake City, UT
Broadcast – NBA TV
This is another of those games where we see two teams who will behave very differently based on where they are in the season. The Thunder have the 1-seed locked up by a full 14 games at this point and as a result have sat down both Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. That’s a big deal for the jumpball here as they don’t really have anyone else to mix it up in the circle. Kyle Filipkowski should take the jump for the Jazz. He’s been just below league average at 46.7%, but that should be good enough to top whoever the Thunder wind up using.
Last time we backed the Jazz, we liked Brice Sensabaugh and I’m going back to the well. While he didn’t score in that aforementioned game, he did get an early shot off yet again. He seems to be someone they’re comfortable shooting the rock early and often and it’s not time to jump off that train yet.
First Bucket Bet for April 11: Brice Sensabaugh (+950)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first bucket bets for April 11, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
