Game 2 of the NBA Finals should feature great drama well into the fourth quarter. No Oklahoma City Thunder lead is big enough to be safe against the Indiana Pacers, after all.
However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be some early drama as well.
The quickest way to profit off that early drama is a first-basket prop bet. My Pacers vs. Thunder first basket picks feature an obvious choice and one a little further beneath the radar.
Find out more in my NBA picks for Sunday, June 8.
Pacers vs Thunder first basket picks
Click on each name to jump to the full analysis
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Indiana Pacers
First basket pick: Pascal Siakam (+750 at bet365)
Pascal Siakam is a difficult matchup for every team in the NBA, including the best defense in the NBA. When Diagenault swapped Cason Wallace into the starting lineup for Isaiah Hartenstein in Game 1, one may have argued it was in part to defend Siakam.
It didn’t pan out, as Siakam finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, including two buckets in the game’s first four minutes and four seconds.
Continuing to emphasize Siakam early may give the Oklahoma City Thunder pause, and any hesitation is a win for Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle.
Oklahoma City Thunder
First basket pick: Chet Holmgren (+500 at bet365)
Chet Holmgren was Oklahoma City’s weak link in Game 1. He went 2-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-8 from the paint, and grabbed only six rebounds in more than 23 minutes.
Yet, if he had played more in the final 3:28, one can genuinely wonder if the Thunder would have held onto the win. They were, after all, up eight when Mark Diagenault subbed out his second- or third-best player, depending on how you feel Holmgren and Jalen Williams rank in the OKC pecking order.
Getting Holmgren going early should be a Thunder emphasis. He needs to score to take some pressure off Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Holmgren has regularly scored early this season, taking the first shot for OKC in 18.8% of the 48 games he has started. Furthermore, he has made eight of those nine looks.
There is a reason Holmgren is the frontrunner in this market, but that does not make him the wrong bet by any means.
Pacers vs Thunder first basket odds
- Chet Holmgren (+550)
- Jalen Williams (+550)
- Isaiah Hartenstein (+650)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+700)
- Pascal Siakam (+700)
- Myles Turner (+750)
- Lu Dort (+900)
Odds courtesy of bet365
