Tuesday’s NBA First Basket Props: PJ Tucker, Jimmy Butler, Jaylen Brown Have Value in Game 1

EDITOR'S NOTE: Marcus Smart and Al Horford of the Boston Celtics have entered health and safety protocols and are out for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. For real-time injury updates, check out our FantasyLabs NBA news page.

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.

PJ Tucker | Jimmy Butler | Jaylen Brown

The Celtics are on the road in Miami Tuesday for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat.

Al Horford (63% opening-tip win rate) or Robert Williams (59% opening-tip win rate) will be taking on Bam Adebayo (68% win rate) at center court. Adebayo is 1-1 against Horford on opening tips over the past two seasons and is 2-1 against Williams. This tip-off matchup is fairly even either way.

Boston ranks first in the NBA at scoring first, converting its first shot 66% of the time. Miami is slightly below league average and scores first 48% of the time.

In the three games regular season games, both teams struggled in their early possessions, which shouldn't really a surprise as these teams ranked first (Celtics) and fourth (Heat) in team Defensive Rating during the the regular season.

Boston has averaged 3.7 shots to make its first field goal and Miami has averaged 4.3 shots to make its first field goal against each other this season. That likely means the guy who takes the first shot may not make it.

I’m going with Jimmy Butler for first basket at FanDuel, Jaylen Brown for fist field goal on DraftKings, and adding in PJ Tucker as a bit of a lotto play via BetMGM. Note that both Butler and Tucker have hit four of Miami’s last 10 1st team field goals.

Plays

• PJ Tucker first field goal (+1400, Risk 0.25 units)
• Jimmy Butler first basket (+600, Risk 0.5 units)
• Jaylen Brown first field goal (+450, Risk 0.5 units)

Celtics vs. Heat First Basket Data

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