NBA betting: With Suns, Bucks eliminated, sportsbook now rooting against Warriors
Following a pair of Game 7s on Sunday, the NBA postseason has advanced to the conference finals with the Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks remaining in the West and the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics still alive in the East.
The two teams that competed in the NBA Finals last season — the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns — were eliminated from title contention on Sunday, leaving just one major liability for the sportsbook at BetMGM: the Warriors.
The Suns, who received 23.1% of the bets and 25.9% of the money, were the biggest NBA title liability for BetMGM. However, Phoenix’s shocking blowout loss to the Mavericks on Sunday ended up being a significant outcome for the book, leaving the Warriors as the team the sportsbook is rooting against.
"BetMGM had the biggest liability on Phoenix to win the NBA championship, so the Suns losing in Game 7 was a good outcome. Looking at the final four, any team but the Warriors winning would be good for the book,” said Christian Cipollini, a sports trader for BetMGM.
The Warriors are the betting favorites to win the championship, which would be the franchise’s fourth since 2015. As of Monday afternoon, the Warriors are listed at +150 at BetMGM ahead of the Celtics (+200), Heat (+425) and Mavericks (+600).
When the Warriors had +360 odds to win the NBA title, BetMGM received a $125,000 bet on Golden State. If the Warriors win, the bettor would win $450,000.
As of Monday morning, the Warriors had received 12.8% of the bets and 15.3% of the money to win the NBA title.
Of the teams still in contention, the Celtics have received the fifth-most bets (7.5%) and the fourth-most money (8.4%). By comparison, the Heat have received 5.2% of the bets and 5.7% of the money while Dallas has received just 3.3% of the bets and 3.2% of the money.
Biggest NBA futures bets still alive
In addition to that $125,000 bet on the Warriors to win it all, there are a few more large payouts still in play at BetMGM.
One bettor put down $44,000 on the Heat to win it all at +1100. Should Miami emerge victorious, the bettor would win a whopping $484,000.
Another bettor has $20,000 on the Celtics at +500. That bet has a potential payout of $100,000.
Additionally, there’s a bettor with $5,000 on the Mavericks at +2500. That bet would win $125,000. There’s also a $6,000 bet on the Mavs to win the West at +2500. That payout would be $150,000.
What about NBA Finals MVP?
Now that Giannis Antetokounmpo and Devin Booker are headed home, Boston’s Jayson Tatum remains as the biggest liability for the sportsbook to win Finals MVP.
According to BetMGM, Tatum has received 8.5% of the bets and 15.4% of the money to win the MVP. Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors has also attracted plenty of action — 7.7% of the bets and 14.9% of the money.
Curry is currently the betting favorite at +225 with Tatum just behind at +275. The other favorites for Finals MVP are Miami’s Jimmy Butler (+600) and Dallas’ Luka Doncic (+650). Further down the list are Golden State’s Klay Thompson and Draymond Green (both at +1800), Boston’s Jaylen Brown (+2000), Golden State's Jordan Poole at +2500 and Miami big man Bam Adebayo and Boston guard Marcus Smart both listed at +3000.
