Filip Tomic
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals is set for Tuesday as the Minnesota Timberwolves take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in what promises to be an epic series. The stakes are high for both sides as OKC looks to return to the NBA Finals for the first time in 13 years, while the Timberwolves are hoping to make their first-ever Finals appearance. There are plenty of markets to bet on in the series opener, including which player will score the first basket. This is a quickfire bet that will have the result known almost immediately, and can deliver some pretty big paydays! Let’s dive into my Timberwolves vs Thunder first basket best bet for tonight, while you can also see our NBA picks for Timberwolves vs Thunder and every game of the Conference Finals.
JutPicks’ best Timberwolves vs Thunder player prop bets for tonight, targeting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Mike Conley
Timberwolves vs Thunder first basket best bet: Chet Holmgren (+550)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Winning the opening tip is crucial more often than not when betting on this market. Isaiah Hartenstein will jump it up against Rudy Gobert, and although it won’t be easy against the Frenchman, the Thunder are 4-0 in the regular-season meetings with the Timberwolves when it comes to winning the opening tip. Even though the Thunder won the opening tip less often (49.5%) than Minnesota (51.1%) during the regular season, that stat alone gives them a slight edge. If we compare the 2 teams so far, the Thunder have made the first basket on 52 occasions this season, while the Timberwolves did so 45 times.
My pick for the series opener is for Chet Holmgren to score the first basket, who leads all players in percentage of first baskets made this season. Chet has done this in 9 of the 43 games he’s started in, which translates into a 21% success rate. No other player in this series has more than 14% in this category. One of those shots came in the 3rd regular-season meeting between these teams, when Holmgren calmly drained a three-pointer just 11 seconds into the game. On top of that, Chet has also taken the first shot for his team in 21.4% of the games he’s played in. He is 2nd only to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in first baskets made (13), but with SGA taking only 3.4% of first shots for his team this season, Holmgren feels like the smarter choice here.
Check out our Timberwolves vs Thunder Same Game Parlay picks for Game 1 tonight at +345 odds
