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There is a TNT double-header tonight for us all to enjoy. The first of the games will see the Philadelphia 76ers taking on the Boston Celtics. The hosts won 3 of the 4 regular season games and should fancy their chances with Joel Embiid listed as doubtful to play. That will be followed up by the Phoenix Suns taking on the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of their series. The visitors will be hoping to be returning to Phoenix with the series tied.
Be sure to take a look at all of our NBA predictions for those games, but for now, let’s get into my NBA first-basket scorer selections.
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76ers vs Celtics first basket best bet: Jaylen Brown (+480)
With Joel Embiid potentially missing tonight’s game, the Boston Celtics should have a much better chance of winning the opening possession. Al Horford will likely be jumping against his replacement in Paul Reed. Both are listed as being the same height on ESPN and it should be evenly contested here. Even if Horford fails, the Celtics had the 2nd best defense in terms of defensive rating this season and should be able to get a stop.
On the season no other Celtic opened the scoring for his team more often that Jaylen Brown. He was also able to do this once against the 76ers in one of their 4 games this season. I expect him to open the scoring in this series tonight. Up against him will be either an undersized Tyrese Maxey or James Harden. The latter has the worst individual defensive rating of all 76ers to have appeared this postseason. He should be an early target for the hosts. Look for Brown to be the man to take advantage.
Suns vs Nuggets first basket best bet: Jamal Murray (+650)
Nikola Jokic was able to win the opening possession for the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of the series. Over the last 10 games both sides have gained the opening possession 6 times. With Jokic having the most recent success between the 2, I would give him the edge in Game 2 as well. The Suns are just 13th in defensive rating among the 16 playoff teams. They should struggle get a stop here.
Look to Jamal Murray to take over from there. In Game 1 he knocked down the first 2 shots for the Nuggets. Look for him to go one better here and open the scoring in the game. In each of his last 3 home games he has shot above 52% from the field. He is also making 46.2% of 3-point attempts this postseason. Considering he is coming into this after dropping 34 points, he should come out aggressive looking to keep it going.
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