Bettors are split on one of the marquee matchups in the NBA’s single-elimination play-in portion of the playoffs.
The Stephen Curry-led Golden State Warriors are the most-bet spread team at BetMGM heading into Tuesday night’s showdown with the Memphis Grizzlies. Golden State is also the biggest liability in the futures market at the online sportsbook.
Key takeaways
- The public loves the Warriors against the spread, but moneyline bettors are on the Grizzlies for Tuesday night.
- The Atlanta Hawks are another popular play-in underdog at some sportsbooks.
- There’s a lot of pro-Detroit Pistons backing in the futures market.
In the battle for the the Western Conference's seventh seed, the Warriors opened as 7.5-point favorites but came down to -6.5. They received the most money and tickets of the eight play-in teams vying for NBA playoff spots at BetMGM.
DraftKings had Golden State getting 63% of the handle but 48% of the bets. ESPN BET reported Monday night that 65.3% of the money backed the Warriors, but 53.8% of the tickets were on Memphis.
However, BetMGM reported the Grizzlies were the most-bet moneyline team with +270 odds to pull off the outright upset. Meanwhile, DraftKings saw 77% of the money and 82% of the ML bets come in on Golden State (-305). ESPN BET said over 88% of the handle backed the Warriors (-290).
The game winner advances to play the second-seeded Houston Rockets, while the loser still has a shot at the eighth and final seed.
Other play-in games
The Sacramento Kings are 4.5-point favorites over the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday in the Western Conference’s 9 vs. 10 seed matchup, the fourth-most-bet spread team at BetMGM.
DraftKings reported 59% of the handle on the Mavs, but 60% of the tickets came in on the Kings, while ESPN BET saw 71.7% of the spread handle and 57.9% of the bets on the favorite.
In the Eastern Conference, the Orlando Magic were 5.5-point favorites over the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday and had 58% of the money and 55% of the tickets at DraftKings. The Hawks are the second-most-bet spread and moneyline play-in team at BetMGM with +180 odds to win outright.
The shortest spread among the four games is when the Miami Heat visit the Chicago Bulls Wednesday. The Bulls are slim 1-point favorites and -105 at DraftKings, which had 76% of the money on the home team. ESPN BET reported over 60% on the Bulls in both spread bets and handle, but moneyline splits were in the 50s.
First-round series splits
As for the NBA playoffs' next round, bettors are piling on the Detroit Pistons to upset the New York Knicks. With +325 odds, the Pistons have 89% of the bets and 93% of the handle to win the first-round series.
Only the L.A. Lakers, with -200 odds, have a higher percentage of money (98%) to get past the Minnesota Timberwolves in the opening round. The L.A. Clippers are another popular underdog, and saw 84% of the bets and 89% of the handle to knock off the Denver Nuggets, who opened at -155 but came down to -115.
The Milwaukee Bucks (+165) have 73% of the tickets and 64% of the money to upset the Indiana Pacers in the first round.
Odds for the series featuring the first (Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers) and second seeds (Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics) will be available when their opponents from the play-in games are decided.
Futures market
Heading into the NBA postseason, the Lakers have 15.9% of the tickets and 15.4% of the money, the highest in both categories among any playoff team at BetMGM. That makes the Lakers, listed fourth in the NBA Finals winner market at +1,100, the second biggest liability behind the Warriors for the operator.
The Pistons aren’t among the top three in ticket or money count, and their odds to win it all as the East's sixth seed are +30,000, but that didn't stop bettors from making them BetMGM's third biggest liability.
The Celtics (+220) received 13.4% of the tickets, second highest, and 14.2% of the money, third highest, in BetMGM’s futures market. Cleveland (+600) had 13.4% of the bets and 14.9% of the money to win it all.
