Warriors installed as favorites to claim NBA title
The Golden State Warriors have emerged as the odds-on favorites to win the NBA title.
Heading into the conference finals, the Warriors are 4-7 favorites to win the championship at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. The Cleveland Cavaliers are next at 5-2, followed by the Atlanta Hawks at 8-1, and the Houston Rockets at 12-1.
Golden State is a giant minus-1,100 favorite to eliminate the Rockets in the Western Conference finals, which tip off Tuesday (9 p.m., ESPN) at Oracle Arena. The underdog Rockets are plus-700 to pull off the upset.
The Warriors are 10-point favorites in Game 1 and defeated Houston in all four meetings this season by an average margin of 12.75 points. But the Rockets have proven to be a dangerous out.
Trailing the Clippers 3-1 in a best-of-seven series, Houston was 60-1 to win the NBA title at the SuperBook. The book took one bet on the Rockets at that price, one $1,000 bet.
In Game 7 on Sunday, the Rockets were 2.5-point home underdogs to the Clippers. An hour before the game, the SuperBook reported that 82 percent of the money wagered on Game 7 was on Los Angeles. Houston won 113-100.
In Game 6, the Clippers led by 19 late in the third quarter and were minus-7,500 to win the game at one point in live betting at William Hill’s Nevada sport book. One bettor risked $488.90 to win $6.52 on the Clippers prevailing and lost. The Rockets outscored the Clippers 40-15 in the fourth quarter and won 119-107.
In the Eastern Conference finals, the Cavaliers are minus-210 favorites over the Hawks, who own home-court advantage. Atlanta is a 1-point favorite over Cleveland in Game 1 on Wednesday at Philips Arena. Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving (left knee tendinitis, strained right foot) is questionable for Game 1.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
