NBA First Basket Predictions & Prop Bet Picks Today: Warriors Celtics 6/8

With the NBA Finals tied up at one game apiece, this series changes venues as they will play at the TD Garden for Games 3 and 4. Both the Celtics and Warriors have not lost back-to-back games all playoffs, which would make this trend in strong favor of the Celtics tonight. They are 3.5-point home favorites but are only 5-4 at home during the playoffs this season. It’s a huge game to see if the Celtics can hold onto their homecourt advantage that they stole from the Warriors in Game 1. No more blowouts, please, and let’s find a winner for the first basket prop bet for Game 3.

NBA First Basket Prediction & Prop Bet Picks Today 6/8

It is interesting to see how the props have barely changed at all since Game 1. The only player whose odds have consistently been shortened has been Kevon Looney. It seems like the books are slowly catching on that he has scored the first Warriors basket in seven of their 18 playoff games, which leads the team. Despite losing the tip in both games, the Warriors with Stephen Curry and then Andrew Wiggins were the first baskets in Games 1 and 2 of this series.

Warriors vs. Celtics Game 3 | Wednesday, June 8 | 9:00 p.m. ET

Let’s dive into the starters and their odds to score the first basket, along with the first baskets from the first two games.

The Starters and Odds

Jaylen Brown +400
Stephen Curry +450
Klay Thompson +600
Jayson Tatum +600
Andrew Wiggins +750
Robert Williams III +750
Al Horford +1100
Kevon Looney +1200
Marcus Smart +1200
Draymond Green +1600

Results This Series

Game 1 – Stephen Curry (3-Pointer)
Game 2 – Andrew Wiggins (3-Pointer)

The Latest Sports Betting Content from Stokastic Odds

Stud NBA First Basket Prop Bet: Jaylen Brown +400

Jaylen Brown has to be the top option on the list of Celtics to score the first basket. He led the league in first baskets this season and is leading the Celtics with 20.5 points per game in this series. Brown had the first basket for the Celtics in Game 2, but it trailed the overall first basket from Andrew Wiggins to win the prop. A 3-pointer has been the first basket for both teams in each game of this series, so taking Brown’s first basket exact prop of a 3-pointer at +1400 is not a bad idea at all. However, the Brown prop of the most interest is Brown to score the first basket and the Celtics to win the game at +700. The Celtics are 3.5-point home favorites, as they have yet to lose back-to-back games in the playoffs thus far. They have actually only lost back-to-back games once since January. Brown trails only Curry for most first quarter points per game in the playoffs this season. Taking the favorite in such a difficult prop to land is always tough to stomach, but the stats back it up.

Longshot NBA First Basket Prop Bet: Marcus Smart +1200

Value play Kevon Looney hasn’t gotten it done the past two games, even though he did score the second Warriors basket in Game 2, and now Marcus Smart is at the same number. Smart has scored the second Celtics basket in the first two games, so it is good to see he has been aggressive early in games. Granted, his basket in Game 2 was his only in the entire game, as he shot 1-for-6 from the field as the Celtics got rolled by 19 points and Smart only played 25 minutes. Picking between Smart and Al Horford was a little difficult, as they were so close in value. Horford had an incredible Game 1 but didn’t attempt his first field goal until the second half of Game 2 and only had four attempts all game. Robert Williams III could be another value Celtics option, but the number is way too short. Williams only had field goal attempt in Game 2 and four attempts in Game 1. Smart is a better option than Horford and Williams, but any can be the pick as long as it stays on the Celtics side of the ball. If looking for more value with Smart, take his first basket exact method of a 3-pointer at +3000, as 58.8% of his field goal attempts have come from behind the arc in this series.

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