Golden State Is Favorite Bet of American Bettors
Scott Morris | June 15, 2017
During Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference Finals is when the Golden State Warriors began hurting sportsbooks.
At home against the San Antonio Spurs, the Warriors were 13.5-point chalk. The Spurs were without injured star Kawhi Leonard and were never such a big underdog since Gregg Popovich became their head coach. The final was 136-100 Golden State.
That started a stretch of three weeks that saw the Warriors win as well as cover the number in six consecutive games. Five of the six games cashed OVER on the point total, making for a tough run for online sportsbook that was ended by the dramatic Game 3 finish during the NBA Finals.
After blowing out Cleveland in Games 1 and 2 to start the Finals, Golden State was 4-point road chalk for Game 3. For most books, over 75% of the handle for that game was with Golden State. Trailing for the majority of the game, Golden State rallied behind an 11-0 run to end the game to win by 5 points 118-113.
That loss hit sportsbooks online as well as up and down the Vegas strip since so many bettors gave the 4.5 points to take Golden State, and the Warriors rallied to win by 5.
During the postseason, Golden State was 15-1 and going back to the final stretch of the regular season, the Warriors including the playoffs were 30-2 over their last 32 games played.
That is why it surprised no one in the sports betting world when Golden State was made an early 4 to 5 favorite to repeat as NBA champions next season. The odds make the Warriors the biggest preseason favorites most books have had for any major U.S. professional sports team.
During this just completed NBA season, Golden State was a favorite of 10-points or more in 51 games. The next closest team was San Antonio with 28.
Golden State was favored by 21 points over Brooklyn on February 25, which was the second largest spread for any NBA game over the last 12 seasons.
In their 98 games played during the regular and postseason, the Warriors were dogs only three times. Kevin Durant happened to be sidelined with an injury in all three of those games the Warriors were given the dog label.
More money was placed on Golden State than their opponents in 70 of their 82 games during the regular season, according to a data site that follows offshore sportsbooks.
