By Daniel Behringer
LVSportsBiz.com
There are those ridiculous dunks that threaten to capsize the entire backboard apparatus. There’s seemingly casually attempted 3-point shots that home in the rim like laser-guided missiles. And there are body-banging collisions between guys 7 feet tall who weigh 250+ pounds that make some hockey body checks look like fraternity handshakes.
So we anticipated last Monday’s Game 4 between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors would showcase all of those elements.
Bettingwise, we had a slight lean to the Rocket although we didn’t play the game. But the betting public seemed to favor the Warriors, who were laying 1 point on the road. A tout on afternoon radio that day observed that while the Rockets, down 2 games to none, hadto win Game 3 but that there was no such motivation for Game 4.
Apparently the Rockets found the motivation, holding off the Warriors, 112-108. A last-second basket helped the total slide over the total of 219.
By Tuesday, if you went to the window intending to play home favorites in the NBA, you had a profitable day. The Toronto Raptors, -6 crushed the Philadelphia 76ers, 125-89, and the Denver Nuggets rolled over the Portland Trail Blazers, 125-98.
Who said NBA stood for No Betting Allowed?
We took a little break from NBA action on Tuesday and circled four baseball favorites we liked — the New York Yankees, the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers. All were heavy favorites except the Brew Crew. All won and a four-team parlay would have returned about 600 percent. After researching a little, we decided to actually play the Washington Nationals, who lost to the Brewers.
Remember what we said a long time ago about following your gut instincts?
By Wednesday, we were poking around Game 5 of the Warriors-Rockets series. Before tipoff, the Milwaukee Bucks dropped the Boston Celtics, 116-91, covered 8.5 and wrapped up that Eastern Conference Semifinal series.
Our gut instinct — there’s that term again — was to play the Warriors, who were -6 vs. the Rockets, on the first-quarter and first-half line. It’s a common pattern for a road team that has lost to return home and come out of the gate strong. We didn’t make the play, but we did watch the Curry, Thompson, Durant & Co. storm to a 31-17 first-quarter lead and a 57-43 lead at halftime.
Meanwhile, over in the NHL, the San Jose Sharks — a team very familiar to Vegas Golden Knights’ fans — prevailed in another Game 7, this time against the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2. Sharks bettors who laid -150 in the last game were able to go the window to cash tickets.
The NBA had another big share of the limelight on Thursday. The Portland Trail Blazers, after spotting the Denver Nuggets an 8-point first quarter lead, rallied and won, 119-108, handily covering -4. And the Sixers, who looked so dreadful against Toronto earlier in the week, handily dispatched the Raptors, 112-101, in the role of home ‘dog, getting 1.5 points.
We were out and about on Friday amid the jostling weekend crowds. We had been following the Minnesota Twins and their ace, James Odorizzi, but needed a gentle reminder from covers.com that the Twins on the run line at -130 vs. the Detroit Tigers was a decent investment. And it paid off, too, when Odorizzi & Co. blanked the Tigers, 6-0. We also briefly looked at the line on the Las Vegas Aviators, who were laying -150 vs. the Salt Lake City Bees. But it was the Bees who allowed bettors to cash a ticket, winning 8-7 in extra innings.
But unless for some reason you were intrigued by whether or not Tony Romo would make the cut in a PGA Tour event, the sporting event of the day was the Houston Rockets vs. the Golden State Warriors in Game 6. Our first hunch was that the oddsmakers had overreacted to the Kevin Durant injury and the Rockets -7.5 was too generous a line against the defending NBA champions. That hunch turned out to be correct as the Warriors eliminated the Rockets with a 118-113 victory.
(Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys signal caller, had his best PGA Tour round, but missed the cut.)
Early Saturday, we thought semi-seriously about betting a section of the ranch on the Boston Red Sox, who have come to life and are scoring runs as quick as Strip resorts assess resort fees. We were distracted other events, but we did notice the Red Sox stormed to a 9-5 win over the Seattle Mariners.
You probably remember what we posted here recently about a team in motion tends to stay in motion while a team at rest tends to stay at rest.
The betting weekend concluded Sunday with a pair of Game 7s in the NBA. In the early game, Denver Nuggets, -5.5, jumped to an early half-time lead but couldn’t hold off the Portland Trail Blazers, who won outright 100-96. In a familiar pattern, the Nuggets covered first-quarter and first-half lines, but the ‘dog prevailed in the second-half.
The nightcap saw the Toronto Raptors, -6, also claim first-quarter and first-half leads, but again the ‘dog, in this case the Philadelphia 76ers, roared back in the second-half to make for a highly competitive conclusion. By now, most of the world has seen Kawhi Leonard’s last-second shot bounce around the rim like an errant pinball before falling, giving the Raptors a 92-90 win and confirming the thesis that the NBA delivers an exciting product.
Both games easily went under the posted totals.
What’s next?
— The NBA Conference Finals begin with Golden State hosting Portland on Tuesday. The Warriors are -8 with the total at 218 or 218.5. On Wednesday the Milwaukee Bucks host the Toronto Raptors. The Bucks are -6 and the total is also 218.
— Pro golfers tee off later in the week in the PGA Championship at the black course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York. Tiger Woods is 8/1.
— The surging Boston Red Sox get Monday off, but host the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday. Chris Sale is the listed starter for the Red Sox so expect a line around -300 or greater before the first pitch is thrown.
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