NBA First Basket Predictions & Prop Bet Picks Today: Celtics vs. Warriors 6/2

Game 1 of the NBA Finals may have been the best game of the NBA Playoffs thus far. The Boston Celtics had a massive fourth quarter comeback to secure the Game 1 victory and steal home court advantage from the Golden State Warriors. The Celtics outscored the Warriors 40-16 in the fourth quarter and had a 17-0 run to close the door as they delivered the Warriors first home playoff loss this season. The Warriors are four-point home favorites for Game 2 as they have yet to lose back-to-back games this playoffs. Expect a bounce back performance from the Warriors after melting down in Game 1.

NBA First Basket Prediction & Prop Bet Picks Today 6/5

The first quarter of Game 1 was captured by Stephen Curry. Not only did Curry have the first basket, but he also scored 21 first quarter points and played all 12 minutes. Curry found himself free on several possessions early in the game as the Celtics had uncharacteristically bad defensive communication. Leaving Curry wide open behind the arc is not a recipe for success. Andrew Wiggins had the first field goal attempt of Game 1, but that shot did not drop. Let’s see if we can narrow down a first basket prop winner for Game 2 based on a little bit of what we saw in the last game.

Warriors vs. Celtics Game 2 | Sunday, June 5 | 8:00 p.m. ET

Let’s dive into the starters and their odds to score the first basket along with the first basket from Game 1.

The Starters and Odds

Jaylen Brown +400
Stephen Curry +450
Klay Thompson +600
Jayson Tatum +600
Andrew Wiggins +750
Robert Williams +750
Al Horford +1100
Marcus Smart +1200
Kevon Looney +1400
Draymond Green +1600

Results this series

Game 1 – Stephen Curry (3-Pointer)

The Latest Sports Betting Content from Stokastic Odds

Stud NBA First Basket Prop Bet: Jayson Tatum +600

The Celtics won the opening tip in Game 1 and Jayson Tatum came out firing. He had the first Celtics basket and three of their first four field goal attempts, all coming from behind the arc. Tatum capitalized on one of those 3-point attempts, but finished the game shooting 3-of-17 from the field for 12 points. Shooting 17.6% from the field was Tatum’s second-worst performance this season. A good sign for the Celtics as they won despite basically nothing but peripherals from their star player. Tatum continues to lead the Celtics in drives with 13.6 per game and a 29.6% usage rate in the playoffs. Jaylen Brown is usually the favorite to score the first basket whenever the Celtics play because he led the league this season, but don’t sleep on Tatum looking to get back on track early in Game 2 after an awful shooting display in Game 1. A Tatum first basket exact method of a 3-pointer is +2000, which also feels like incredible value as he had three 3-point field goal attempts before two minutes went off the clock last game. This seems like great value for a super aggressive player.

Longshot NBA First Basket Prop Bet: Kevon Looney +1400

Going right back to Kevon Looney for Game 2 even though his value dropped from +1600 in Game 1 to +1400 in Game 2. I wouldn’t mind taking Andrew Wiggins, but +750 doesn’t get the juices flowing enough for me. We hit this Looney prop last time he was at +1400, so let’s do it again tonight! May I remind you, Looney has scored the first Warriors basket in seven of their 17 playoff games this season. Despite the difficult interior matchup against Al Horford and Robert Williams, this still feels like a very strong value play. Looney had an offensive rebound early in Game 1, but instead of a put-back, he dished it out to Curry for the first basket of the game. Close call, but no luck. Looney finished with four points on only four field goal attempts as he played 25 minutes. His playing time will drop with Draymond Green getting more run at center in a small-ball lineup, but Looney will continue to start and has been aggressive early in games during the playoffs. Let’s test out the difficult matchup one more time to see if Looney can get us into the winner’s circle.