First team to score on Basketball betting
First team to score on Basketball betting

One of the most popular bets in basketball is the first team to score. We will give you some tips to use this betting strategy.
In gambling terms, a prop bet – or proposition bet to give the full title – is a side bet regarding the occurrence or non-occurrence of an event which does not directly impact the game’s final outcome. One of the most popular such prop bets in basketball is the first team to score.
There are some sports books that offer odds on the first team to score a basket in a match. The odds offered are not that interesting – no more than 1.90 is usually on offer - but as a side bet they can be attractive to some.
If you are interested in adopting such a bet as part of your basketball betting strategy, what are some useful NBA betting tips?
It is best to start with the basics of basketball and the tip off, where usually the two tallest players, usually centers or power forwards, go against each other to determine the first possession. Normally whichever team gets the ball first, scores first. So it is important to research the various teams and the player statistics, and see who is likely to contest the tip-off and their chances of winning possession for the team. In particular, when it comes to prop betting, look for players who are under-valued by the market but who win more than their share of first balls. They can often help get their teams off to a winning start due to their ability, despite not having the physical advantages of their direct opponents at the tips off.
Other NBA betting tips are to consider the rebound numbers of the players concerned, compared to their likely opponents at the tip-off. For example, a 2.18m tall center who averages 10 rebounds a game squaring-off with a 2.12m center with 7 rebounds a game will most likely have an edge in winning his team the first possession.
In terms of first team to score betting tips, it is important to research those players who take the first shots or take the most shots in the game altogether. This is actually straight forward as most players have so-called franchise players – like Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant of Golden State, or Cleveland’s Lebron James – who more often than not dominate the ball, call plays and take more shots than their team mates. Team dynamics do not change that much in the NBA during the course of a season, so certain players will take the majority of the shots, including early in games.
Look at the match-ups in a specific game to determine if the statistics are valid and also to determine some other possibilities. For example, if a star player is matched against a well-known defender or has to face an unorthodox player, then you might have to look at a less obvious scorer as defences will be tight early on in a match.
Whilst some will argue that prop bets such as first team to score are really novelty wagers that do not form part of an overall basketball betting strategy, they can be a fun option for some. If you are going to gamble on this, then do some research first on teams, their strategy at tip-offs and their “go-to” players when it comes to the first shot. And remember, when it comes to predicting the overall result, it is not the team that is ahead after the first basket that counts, but the team who has the most points on the board at the end of the fourth quarter.