Sam Panayotovich
FOX Sports Betting Analyst
It’s been 52 years since the New York Knicks won an NBA championship and one Las Vegas bookmaker is hopeful it doesn’t happen this June.
Oklahoma City, Minnesota and Indiana all have shorter odds and likelier chances to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but a notable Knicks bet in late April built up some serious financial liability behind the counter.
“I need them out big time,” the bookmaker told FOX Sports. “A customer came in and bet $20,000 at 30-1 before the playoffs started. We took the bet because we didn’t think they would get past Boston and Cleveland out East.
“There’s still a ways to go, but the path is much easier after [Jayson] Tatum went down and Indiana bounced Cleveland. We wrote a couple more bets when Tatum was wheeled off the court, too. We’re at 5-1 now.
“It’ll get uncomfortable if the Knicks make the Finals.”
Current NBA title odds via BetMGM
Oklahoma City Thunder: -135 (bet $10 to win $17.41 total)
Minnesota Timberwolves: +550 (bet $10 to win $65 total)
Indiana Pacers: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
New York Knicks: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Boston Celtics: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total)
Denver Nuggets: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
New York opened as a 2.5-point favorite against the Celtics for Friday’s highly anticipated Game 6 at Madison Square Garden. There’s been an early push on the champs at shops like Circa and the SuperBook from +2.5 to +2.
I’m hopeful Boston digs deep and forces Game 7, especially after I was gobbling up Celtics series bets at -115 after the first two games.
Time will tell if the Knicks can finish the job.
If they do, it’ll set up one of the most mathematically surprising Eastern Conference finals of all-time, considering Cleveland was -600 to beat Indiana and Boston was as high as -900 to advance past New York.
A Cavs-Pacers series parlay was around 33-1.
Elsewhere, the Warriors are done for the summer after being eliminated by Minnesota, a result welcomed by the house.
“The Warriors were 40-1 to win it all when they made the Jimmy Butler trade,” the bookmaker recalled. “Then they went scorched earth and the bettors followed. We got all the way down to 12-1 for the title and 6-1 for the West.
“We’re not shedding any tears about them being out.”
Most sportsbooks will be more than okay if Oklahoma City wins its first title in franchise history. The Thunder were one of the top preseason favorites and charged to a league-high 68 victories in the regular season.
They weren’t catching anyone by surprise.
It’s much easier to limit liability when sportsbooks are ahead of the curve on championship-caliber teams. I remember seeing OKC in the 6-1 and 7-1 range before the season tipped off, which wound up being nails.
“Oh yeah,” the bookmaker cracked. “We’re good to Oklahoma City. We’re good to Boston. We’re surprisingly okay on Minnesota. Indiana would be a small loser only because there wasn’t a ton of interest. Dodged a bullet there.”
And New York?
“Anybody but the Knicks. Anybody.”
Sam Panayotovich is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and the BetMGM Network. He previously worked for WGN Radio, NBC Sports and VSiN. Follow him on Twitter @spshoot.
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