Best NBA First Basket Scorer Picks for Wednesday, April 17 (Target Joel Embiid, Dejounte Murray)
By Peter Dewey
The Eastern Conference takes center stage on Wednesday night for the play-in tournament action between the Miami Heat and Philadelphia Sixers and the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks.
Miami and Philly are playing for the No. 7 seed while the Bulls and Hawks hope to keep their season alive with a win in the No. 9 vs. No. 10 matchup.
No matter how you plan on betting on these games, taking a first-basket scorer can be a thrilling way to start the postseason action.
I have a pair of players that I'm targeting to score first in Wednesday's matchups:
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NBA First Basket Scorer Picks and Predictions
- Joel Embiid First Basket Scorer (+440)
- Dejounte Murray First Basket Scorer (+700)
Joel Embiid First Basket Scorer (+440)
Superstar Joel Embiid is the most obvious first-basket scorer to take tonight, and I’m going to bet on him against Miami.
Embiid scored 29 points in a meeting with the Heat late in the season, and he has the profile of an elite first-basket scorer.
The reigning league MVP has scored 10 first baskets in 39 games, and he takes the first shot of the game a whopping 28.2 percent of the time. No other player in action tonight takes the first shot even 20.0 percent of the time.
Miami is a tough defense to navigate, but Embiid is matchup-proof. He’s worth a bet at +440 to score first in this one since he’s in the same ballpark of odds as Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, who take the first shot far less than him.
Dejounte Murray First Basket Scorer (+700)
Taking a first-basket scorer in the Atlanta Hawks-Chicago Bulls matchup is going to be tough as both teams win the jump ball under 50 percent of the time this season, so there isn’t a massive advantage on who will score first.
Still, I think guard Dejounte Murray is the best player to wager on in this market.
Murray has 10 first baskets on the season even though he’s only taken the first shot 9.0 percent of the time. We can count on Murray or Trae Young initiating offense early in the game, and Murray has seven more first baskets in the 2023-24 season.
At +700, Murray is worth a shot to open the scoring in the No. 9 vs. No. 10 matchup.
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.