NBA First Basket Prop: Bet Jalen Brunson as First Scorer in Knicks vs. Heat (May 8)

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.

Knicks vs.

Heat

NBA First Basket Prop Pick: Jalen Brunson

The Miami Heat host the New YorkKnicks on Monday night in Game 4 of their playoff series. Bam Adebayo (55% opening tip win rate) will face off against Mitchell Robinson (64% win rate) for the opening tip-off. Over the past two seasons, the two centers have split opening tip-offs, with each player winning four.

In the seven games this season, the Heat have cashed four first baskets while the Knicks have cashed three. Jimmy Butler (twice), Tyler Herro, Gabe Vincent have cashed tickets for the Heat while Julius Randle, Robinson and Jalen Brunson have cashed tickets for the Knicks.

The two centers are pretty evenly matched in terms of the opening tip-off, but Robinson has won the last two tip-offs.  I like the Knicks to control the tip in this one.

I normally take two players to score first in these spots, but with the solid defense played by both teams in the last game, I want to reduce my risk here. Jalen Brunson has been the best offensive option this series for the Knicks, so I'll take him to score the first field goal in this one. If odds for other players change significantly, I'll look to add another pick.

The Pick: Jalen Brunson 1st Field Goal +550 (risk 0.5 units)

Knicks vs. Heat First Basket Prop Data

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