Cleveland moved from a 1-2 favorite to win the NBA’s Eastern Conference to a 1-3 favorite after Celtics forward Gordon Hayward’s gruesome injury.
Basketball
After Minnesota’s steal of Chicago All-Star guard Jimmy Butler on Thursday, the Westgate sports book moved the Timberwolves’ odds to win the 2018 NBA title from 100-1 to 60-1 while bumping the Bulls from 100-1 to 200-1.
Cleveland, getting two to four points Wednesday in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, led by six with 3:09 left before Golden State ended the game on an 11-0 run to not only win 118-113 but also cover and send the number over the total of 227.
After blowing a 3-1 lead last year and adding a former MVP, the pressure is squarely on the Warriors. As an underdog after finally bringing a banner home to Cleveland, LeBron James is playing with house money.
The Cavaliers eliminated Boston in a 135-102 blowout Thursday night to set the stage for the highly-anticipated threequel with the Warriors that thankfully promises to be more like “Rocky III” than “The Hangover Part III.”
The Westgate sports book has a prop pitting the Warriors (minus-200) versus the field (plus-175), and manager Jeff Sherman expects Golden State to cash as the heaviest favorite he can recall since the late 1990s Bulls title teams led by Michael Jordan.
Despite North Carolina’s dominance down low, Vegas Insider handicapper Brian Edwards is backing underdog Oregon (+5) as his best bet of the Final Four.
The betting public is banking on the over trend to extend to the Sweet 16, and two handicappers are on Oregon-Michigan Over 147 and UCLA-Kentucky Over 165½.
There weren’t any bad beats in the NCAA Tournament’s first 16 games — other than the intentional foul that cost Vanderbilt a win over Northwestern.
Will a Wildcats team win the NCAA Tournament? Las Vegas radio host Brian Blessing bet Yes (plus-280) on the intriguing prop that includes Villanova, Kentucky, Arizona, Northwestern and Kansas State.
Former Vegas Insider handicapper Lance Blankenship has been busy in Las Vegas the past 10 days pounding Purdue on futures bets to win the NCAA Tournament.