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 18. 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 18.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Bucket Props – April 18
Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks
Tipoff – 7:00 pm EST
State Farm Arena – Atlanta, GA
Broadcast – TNT
There isn’t much to differentiate between these two when it comes to the first bucket. Each of them are scoring first right around league average. The Hawks sit at 51.3% on the first score, whereas the Heat are just a touch behind at 47.4%. Neither of those is enough to pick a team to score first. However, there is enough to differentiate when we look at the tipoff percentages. Bam Adebayo is one of the best in the league at grabbing the tip. He’s winning 73.3% of the jumpballs that he takes. In the other side, Onyeka Okongwu is getting just 51.3%. With tip winners getting 65.7% of the first buckets on the season, we’ll go with the Heat here.
If we’re getting greedy and playing individual players, we’ll go with Andrew Wiggings. He was hot for the team down the stretch and took a ton of the first shots. He also kicked off the play-in with the team’s first shot attempt. Not only is the trend good, but his odds aren’t anywhere near the shortest on the squad.
First Bucket Bet for April 18: Andrew Wiggins (+600)
Dallas Mavericks vs. Memphis Grizzlies
Tipoff – 9:30 pm EST
FedExForum – Memphis, TN
Broadcast – ESPN
In the nightcap, there is even less to go by. Zach Edey is sporting a minor 2.3% lead when it comes to winning the tip over Derrick Lively II. So we’ll give a slight advantage to Memphis on that one. They also have a slight advantage on the first bucket success rate as well. That lead is a little more substantial at 4.0%. Without much to go on, the two minor leads would be enough for us to play with the Grizzlies on Friday.
The Grizzlies spread the ball around plenty with the first buckets. They have a ton of guys who have scored first a ton of times. However, if we look at the kind of guys that the Mavericks are giving up first buckets too, it largely follows one pattern. The last four first buckets they allowed before the end of the season were guards. As a result, we’ll take the starting guard who isn’t on the injury report – Desmond Bane.
First Bucket Bet for April 18: Desmond Bane (+750)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first bucket bets for April 18, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
