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 22. 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 22.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Bucket Props – April 22
Milwaukee Bucks vs. Indiana Pacers
Tipoff – 7:00 pm EST
Gainbridge Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, IN
Broadcast – NBA TV
In Game 1 of this series, we saw quite the statistical anomaly. The Bucks ranked 4th in the league at scoring first, while the Pacers sat in 25th. There was an even larger gap in the tipoff win percentages, where the Bucks ranked 6th and the Pacers were 28th (only ahead of the Bulls and the Pelicans). Despite all of the advantages that the Bucks have, we saw the Pacers win the tip and score the first bucket. One game does not make a trend though, and I can’t imagine they’ll buck these numbers yet again. As a result, I like the Bucks to score first here at -150.
In Game 1 we broke down all the reasons that Damian Lillard was the right play – only he was hurt and didn’t play. In the four regular season games between the two teams, of which the Bucks scored first in each one, Damian Lillard scored first in half of them. Additionally, one of the first buckets in those games came from an Andre Jackson outside shot, and he won’t be in the lineup. With the trend in place and the Bucks likely looking to get Lillard going early, I like his prop here.
First Bucket Bet for April 22: Damian Lillard (+650)
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Tipoff – 10:00 pm EST
crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
Broadcast – TNT
The Lakers are another team that has a lot of statistical advantages for the first bucket. They outpace the timberwolves by 6.4% on the tip win percentage and another 6.4% on the first bucket success rate. Riding those trends bared fruit in Game 1 as Jaxson Hayes won the tip and Luka Doncic got fouled on his first shot of the game. Those numbers are a comfortable enough of a lead that I think we’ll see the Lakers on the board first in a second straight game. You can get them to score first at -130.
I know it’s a bit of chalk, but if I’m playing an individual player on the Lakers, I’m going with Luka Doncic. He took two of the first three shots that the Lakers took in Game 1. Also, he led the team in shots by a pretty comfortable margin in that game. He took four more than LeBron James and at least nine more than every other Laker. You can’t argue with volume like that, especially since it was early and often.
First Bucket Bet for April 22: Luka Doncic (+450)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first bucket bets for April 22, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
