New Jersey sports bettors took a pounding Thursday when Toronto Raptors won Game 1 of the 2019 NBA Final. They beat Golden City Warriors 118-109
In seeking a 4th NBA Final title in five years, the Warriors went into the game as overwhelming favorites of NJ’s punters.
Before the game, FanDuel director Kevin Hennessy said 90% of money-line bets and 84% of spread bets were on Warriors. Golden City was also the Futures favorites for the series – then and now.
There wasn’t a lot in it after their loss, but on Friday morning they were still the futures favorites of New Jersey’s 16 Sportsbooks.
For example, market leaders FanDuel had them at odds of -160 as against Toronto’s +138. 888sport also had the Warriors at -160 but Toronto at +135. William Hill, however, differed somewhat. They had the Warriors at -150 and the Raptors at +130.
The story in Nevada before Thursday’s NBA Final opener was pretty much the same as in New Jersey
“We’ve seen incredible even series money with a lot of handle,” Caesars director of trading Jeff Davis told ESPN. “The public is blasting away on Warriors (80% of bets) for Game 1. We took two respected bets on the Raptors when we opened on the 26th. The rest has been Warriors.”
Some big bets including $77 000 placed on Warriors
“We’ve heard some other respected players are on Toronto and I think it’s a must-win, even though it’s Game 1,” John Murray, executive director at the SuperBook in Las Vegas, told ESPN. “We moved with the market.”
“We’ve seen some big bets on Golden State to win the series, including $77,000 on them at -300 on Wednesday,” Murray said. “A few other five-five wagers on Golden State as well. We’re rooting for Toronto in Game 1.”
The Star of Game 1? Expectedly he was from the Raptors – but it was not Kawhi Leonard as you might have thought it would be. Golden State certainly felt that way.
They made sure this talented former NBA Final MVP was boxed in throughout the game. Unfortunately for their New Jersey backers, in doing this, they gave Pascal Siakam too much freedom – and he reveled in it.
It allowed him to go one-on-one with all his opponents, including Draymond Green at the post. And in this game, that simply wasn’t enough. Siakam dominated his battle with Green, notching up 32 points from finding the basket with 14 of his 17 attempts.
Its early days in the series with only the second game coming up on Saturday. All is not lost for the Warriors – and they can take some compensation from the following fact, courtesy of ESPN Stats & Information.
Only one in 19 NBA Finals have been won by the underdogs at odds of +200 or more. They were the Detroit Pistons in 2004. With odds of +500, they beat the Los Angeles Lakers.