Best NBA First Basket Scorer Picks for Wednesday, May 1 (Target Luka Doncic, Jaylen Brown)

There are just two NBA playoff games on Wednesday night, but that's not going to stop us from targeting some first basket scorers, especially since players like Jaylen Brown and Bam Adebayo have been great at racking up first buckets all season.

Are we going with one of those players for the Miami Heat-Boston Celtics matchup tonight? We just might bet.

Plus, the Los Angeles Clippers-Dallas Mavericks game gives us some interesting options with Kawhi Leonard out.

Let's break down these picks, which can be a fun way to involve yourself early in the game:

NBA First Basket Scorer Picks and Predictions

• Nikola Jovic First Basket Scorer (+900)
• Jaylen Brown First Basket Scorer (+425)
• Luka Doncic First Basket Scorer (+450)

Nikola Jovic First Basket Scorer (+900)

This is the first of two picks that I’m making in this game, which could be the final matchup of this series. 

Of the players in action on Wednesday, nobody takes the first shot more than Nikola Jovic (21.2 percent of the time), which may seem crazy since he’s a role player in this Miami starting lineup. 

However, Jovic scored the first basket in the Heat-Celtics matchup in Game 4, and he’s picked up six first baskets in 44 starts this season. He’s worth a shot at these odds given his usage early in games. 

Jaylen Brown First Basket Scorer (+425)

Jaylen Brown has 15 first baskets on the season, and he’s No. 2 amongst players tonight (behind Jovic) in first shot percentage at 20.5 percent.

Boston may not be as dominant winning the jump ball with Kristaps Porzingis out, but Brown scores the first bucket in 20.5 percent of his games, more than anyone in action tonight. 

The C’s offense is a well-oiled machine, but I like leaning to Brown to keep his season-long success going on Wednesday. 

Luka Doncic First Basket Scorer (+450)

Betting a first basket scorer in the Mavericks-Clippers game is a little tricky since both teams don’t win the jump ball at a high rate, but Los Angeles is one of the worst teams in the NBA in that category, winning it just 27.9 percent of the time.

That leads me to picking a Dallas player to score first, and why not the team’s best player and MVP candidate Luka Doncic?

Luka has 11 first baskets on the season, despite taking the first shot just 14.9 percent of the time. However, in the playoffs, Doncic is being called upon to handle the ball a ton, and it’s likely that the Mavs run action for him early and often to try and pull off a road win. 

Kyrie Irving is also worth a shot in this market since Dallas’ other three starters combined have fewer first baskets than he and Doncic have alone this season.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

Find Peter Dewey's NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.