Pretty sure this is not true. Everywhere I look, the odds are roughly Celtics -140. Opening odds might have been different, but you should never go by what the openers say.
FWIW, I was stuck listening to some espn-y type radio show while waiting in the cell phone lot at an airport yesterday and the dude was going on and on about exactly this fact -- that the opening from some Vegas bookmaker was with Brooklyn as the favorite out of the gate. The dude then discussed how quickly the line slid to Cs at -140, but none the less, he was saying exactly what benhogan wrote.
Okay, but benhogan wrote that less than an hour ago. Openers were yesterday. "Vegas" has thought the Celtics were favorites since shortly after the openers were released. Openers mean nothing - they're rough starting points for real trading. Sportsbooks limit action on them because they haven’t been vetted yet.
For roughly 2 hours on Tuesday evening, Caesars had Cs as underdogs but every other book did not so if you could bet those lines, you were guaranteed $150 on $1000 bet.
I used this line from an ESPN article for my offhanded Vegas comment:
Hey man. I wasn't trying to ridicule you. I'm sure you had your reasons for posting that. Just correcting the record, that's all. Ceasars' series odds are actually aligned with the rest of the market (Celts -145). There must be something else going into those Eastern Conference odds. Perhaps Caesars has a lot of liability on Nets futures from earlier in the season.
That's cool, I didn't bother checking online for Vegas once I read the ESPN article. Frankly, I was kind of surprised, as were the sharps. Looks like Caesar's got lit up straight away.
The article was probably written at the time the market opened which would have been correct as the Nets opened as -130 favorites in most places (some were -125). The market quickly began hammering the Celtics shortly thereafter.
Is the second line a typo where it’s supposed to say Celts in 7?
I think the Celtics are clearly the better team and should win in 6 (or 5), but I’d have a really tough time betting against KD in a game 7. It’s not based on anything other than a fear of Durant lol.
Would Curry and Smart even play against eachother that much, what with Curry coming off the bench for Poole?
Note: shoulda been Celtics-Warriors that year had Rick Barry not quit on the team, so maybe this year we get to taste that matchup.
Note #2: Steph’s apparently good to go for Game One v Denver and wants a piece of Marcus Smart in the Finals. (Yes, I know he didn’t blame Smart for his injury, nor do I, just getting in some early trash talk…)
I voted for 5 in this poll as it seemed the most likely scenario, but I did put small money down on a sweep, so that was nice.
A+ call on a sweep
