Last night Anthony Davis delivered us a +450 first basket scorer winner in the first night of this season’s play-in games. Tonight we will be looking to have another winning selection as the 9th and 10th seeded teams in each conference collide. The Chicago Bulls will be visiting the Toronto Raptors live on ESPN, with the winner getting to take on the Miami Heat. In the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder take on the New Orleans Pelicans with the winner getting to face the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Do check out our NBA picks for today’s games. But for now let’s take a look at my favourite first-basket scorer bets for Wednesday.
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Over the last 10 games both the Chicago Bulls and the Toronto Raptors have been able to gain possession on the opening tip on 5 occasions. However, in their 3 matchups this season, the Raptors have won tip and made the first shot in every game. I expect that trend to continue tonight. Jakob Poeltl has a size advantage over Nikola Vucevic and should be favoured to get the Raptors the first shot.
In the last meeting between the teams, OG Anunoby took the first 2 shots for the Raptors. He made one of them, which was the first basket of the game. It would not be surprising to see them turn to him once more. He has made 38.7% of his 3-pointers this season, the best mark on the Raptors roster. Anunoby is also an explosive athlete and a strong physical presence. DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine could be overpowered by the forward on his drives to the rim. It would be a major benefit for the hosts if they could get either in early foul trouble too. The Bulls are just 20th in defensive rating over the last 10 games, so the forward could get more than one go at this.
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These teams faced off 4 times in the regular season, with Jonas Valanciunas jumping for the opening tip on each occasion. Not once did he fail to get his team the ball and the opening shot. They turned to the Lithuanian for the first shot in 2 of those games. One resulted in an offensive foul while the other saw Valanciunas get to the free-throw line and score the game’s first points. With a size advantage on the inside, I expect the Pelicans to turn to him early once more. Establishing him as a scoring threat should help to open up other parts of the Pelicans offense.
Over the last 10 games Valanciunas knocked down the first basket for the team on 3 occasions. Only Brandon Ingram has done so more often with 4. However, the forward has been flashing his playmaking capabilities lately, averaging 8.2 assists in April. That is up from his season average of 5.8 per game. With Valanciunas up against a rookie in Jaylin Williams, do not be surprised to see Ingram feeding the Lithuanian center on the inside.
Check out our Thunder vs Pelicans Same Game Parlay
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