NBA First Basket Prop Pick: Bet Herb Jones, Jonas Valanciunas in Thunder vs Pelicans
Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images. Pictured: Herbert Jones #5 of the New Orleans Pelicans.
- The Pelicans host the Thunder on Wednesday night in the 9-10 game of the Western Conference Play-In Tournament as both teams fight to stave off elimination.
- NBA First Basket has taken a look at this matchup and found two bets for first basket scorer in this matchup with one team having an edge to win the opening tip.
- Find NBA First Basket's picks and analysis below.
NBA First Basket will break down some of his favorite NBA plays of the day here, and will track all his bets in The Action Network app.
NBA First Basket Prop Pick: Jonas Valanciunas, Herb Jones
| Odds | Valanciunas (+410) / Jones (+1100) |
| Time | 9:30 p.m. ET |
| Book | FanDuel |
The New Orleans Pelicans host the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night in the 9-10 seed game of the Western Conference Play-In Tournament. Jonas Valanciunas (53% opening tip win rate) will take on Jaylin Williams (31% win rate) for the opening tip-off. Valanciunas won both tips against Williams this season, and I would expect the Pelicans to control the tip again tonight.
During the season series between the teams, the Pelicans scored first in three games with Herb Jones, Brandon Ingram and Valanciunas all cashing a first basket while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cashed the only first basket for the Thunder.
The Pelicans were one of my favorite teams to bet during the season as Ingram and Valanciunas combined to score the first team field goal in 72% of games started during the season. Both are priced fairly low in first basket markets as they are in the +400 to +450 range for this game.
I like Valanciunas to score first in this one. Valanciunas got hot after the All-Star Break, scoring the first team basket in 43% of games. He finished tied for first with Joel Embiid this season, cashing 20 first basket bets.
I'm going to pair him with Herb Jones, who likes to drive the lane for layups in early possessions, as I like the value that one of them scores first tonight.
I also expect the Pelicans to win tonight as well and will add that into my play.
Pick: Jonas Valanciunas First Basket & Pelicans ML Parlay +650 (Risk 0.7 Units | Play to +500) |
Pick: Herb Jones First Basket +1100 (Risk 0.3 Units | Play to +850) |
Thunder vs. Pelicans First Basket Prop Data
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