The NBA’s Eastern and Western Conference finals could soon be over.
Going into Monday, the Boston Celtics lead the Indiana Pacers 3-0 in the East while the Dallas Mavericks are up 3-0 over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the West.
The games have been relatively close. Two of Boston’s three wins have come by five points or fewer, and two of Dallas’ three wins have come by three points or fewer.
Luka Doncic has led the Mavericks, scoring at least 32 points in each game, while Jayson Tatum has paced the Celtics, going for 36 points in two of the three games.
No matter when these series end, the NBA Finals will begin June 6.
TRENDS OF THE WEEK
The wins and losses aren’t the only thing one-sided; so are Overs. The Over has hit in all six games of the Eastern and Western Conference finals. The public has been taking advantage. For example, in Sunday’s Game 3 between the Mavericks and Timberwolves, 84% of the bets and 83% of the money was on the Over at the BetMGM Sportsbook.
Meanwhile, bettors were all over the Under in Sunday’s Panthers-Rangers Game 3 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With a total of 5.5 goals, 77% of the bets and 81% of the money was on the Under. New York won the game 5-4 to take a 2-1 series lead.
Josef Newgarden won the Indy 500 for the second straight year on Sunday. With +525 odds to win, they were the shortest odds of any driver in the field. Newgarden pulled in the fourth-most tickets (6.9%) but the most money (11.6%).
UPSETS OF THE WEEK
Davis Riley won the Charles Schwab Challenge by five shots on Sunday. Riley entered the event with +25000 odds to win and only drew 0.2% of tickets. Entering the event, he had just one top-25 finish this season and had missed seven cuts in 15 starts. It was his second career PGA Tour win, as he teamed up with Nick Hardy to win the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
After dropping the first game at home, many bettors expected Minnesota to win Game 2 and cover the spread. After opening as 3.5-point favorites, they closed as 5.5-point favorites, with 65% of the bets and 72% of the money coming in on the Timberwolves to cover. Dallas won 109-108.
COMING UP
The first tennis Grand Slam of the year is underway with the French Open.
On the women’s side, Iga Swiatek entered as a massive favorite with -155 odds to win after taking the tournament each of the last two years.
At the start of the tournament, she was pulling in the most tickets (28.5%) and the most money (75.4%) in the outright win market.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic generated the most action in pre-tournament betting at +350 to win it all. Djokovic drew the most tickets (12.7%) and the most money (32.4%).
Carlos Alcaraz (+250) had the best odds to win at the start of the tournament. ___
This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM.
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