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 December 14. 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 December 14.
Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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NBA First Scorer Props – December 14
Atlanta Hawks vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Tipoff – 4:30 pm EST
T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, NV
Broadcast – TNT
With a small slate of games on Saturday, we can’t really cherry-pick our favorite matchups. This one is a bit tricky because both of these teams are solid across the board. Both teams are in the top ten in terms of tip win percentage and scoring first. However, there is a thin margin that favors the Bucks here. The Bucks have a modest 9.0% advantage on the first scores and an identical one on the tipoffs. Add in that the Bucks won the tip and scored first in their only other meeting this year, and you have to go with someone from Milwaukee here.
As the Bucks have turned things around, Giannis Antetokounmpo has been taking over more and more. His early game action last time out might certainly draw some action for the first bucket on this game. However, there’s another name I like here instead that has been getting plenty of looks. Brook Lopez has actually taken the first shot for the Bucks in two of the last three games. Also, with Clint Capela committing more fouls lately (2.6 per game in the month of December), there’s a chance we can draw the foul and get the first score there.
First Scorer Bet for December 14: Brook Lopez (+800)
Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Tipoff – 8:30 pm EST
T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, NV
Broadcast – ABC
The Rockets haven’t been the best team on the jump this year. In fact, they’ve won just 52.0% of the tips they’ve seen. Still, despite all of that, they are the best team in the league at scoring first – 68.0% on the year. This should continue in the NBA Cup semifinals. The Thunder have been brutal on the early game action since losing Chet Holmgren. Their tip win percentage went from being one of the best in the league down to league average. They’ve also slipped into the bottom third of the league in first scores.
The Rockets have spread out their first scores, which makes sense given as many as they’ve had. One name that’s shown up four times in the log already this year is Jabari Smith Jr. A lot of that action came on recently as well – with three of the four coming in the last month. His early action has been a big part of that. He’s taken one of the team’s first four shots in each of the last three games. In two of those, he got the team’s first attempt. That volume with his odds still being this high is something we can’t pass up.
First Scorer Bet for December 14: Jabari Smith Jr (+1000)
If you’d like even more info to help make your first scorer bets for December 14, check out the NBA Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar.
