NBA odds: Heat are up 2-0 in the East, and a Miami title would be a 7-figure profit for BetMGM
It’s not too hard to figure out who BetMGM will be rooting for the rest of the NBA season.
The Los Angeles Lakers are the biggest liability for the book, and that’s no surprise. Some big bets have come in on the Lakers, who are popular in Las Vegas at all times. BetMGM said it could lose six figures if the Lakers win it all.
The Denver Nuggets are huge underdogs to win the Western Conference, and plenty of bettors took a shot on them at +500 to make the Finals. As of Thursday, 80% of tickets and money were on Nuggets to win the series, though there has been Lakers money to come in late.
The Boston Celtics are a popular team and they got by far the most tickets and money to win the East. More than 30 percent of the action among Eastern Conference championship bets is on Boston.
Then there’s the Miami Heat. With just 0.68 percent of all money bet on NBA championship futures on Miami, BetMGM will make a fortune if the Heat win it all.
Sportsbooks rooting for Miami Heat
A Heat championship might be celebrated more in Nevada than Florida.
If Miami wins the championship, BetMGM said it will profit more than a million dollars. That’s due to the lack of Heat action combined with knocking out a lot of Lakers and Celtics bets.
The Heat have been fantastic in the playoffs. They cruised in the first round, knocked off the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks with ease and are up 2-0 on the favored Celtics. Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, Bam Adebayo and the rest of the Heat have been great.
BetMGM hopes the Heat keep it up. The book would never turn down a seven-figure profit on anything, but it’s especially important this year with its normal profits going away due to coronavirus. Still, nobody will be rooting for the house. But the house will be rooting for Miami.
Nuggets-Lakers starts Friday night
The Celtics are in trouble in the East, which is good news for the books. On Friday night bettors will turn their attention to the Western Conference.
The Nuggets, who shocked the NBA world by coming back from down 3-1 in their series with the Los Angeles Clippers, are 7-point underdogs in Game 1. Bettors are finally buying in, with 59.7% of tickets and 58.3% of the money on Game 1 coming in on Denver to cover the spread on Friday night.
The NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, NHL and college football are all going on at the same time, along with the U.S. Open golf championship this week. There is a ton of action coming in, especially with more states than ever allowing legal sports betting. But the Miami Heat stand out as the most important team of all, at least for the sportsbooks.
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