NBA Finals betting: Bettors like Boston's chances of getting to Game 7
A majority of bettors are confident the Boston Celtics can extend the NBA Finals to a seventh game at Golden State.
Nearly 60% of bettors at BetMGM are backing the Celtics to cover the spread on Thursday night in Game 6. Boston is favored by 3.5 points ahead of Game 6 as it faces a 3-2 series deficit to the Warriors after losing back-to-back games for the first time all postseason.
The money laid by Celtics bettors represents a nice 69% of the money bet against the spread at BetMGM. The 41% of bets on the Warriors +3.5 make up 31% of the handle.
Bettors’ money is expecting a low-scoring game as well. The total has dropped from 211.5 to 209.5 as 60% of the money bet on the total has been on the under. Bets are basically split on the total with 48% of bets on the over and 52% on the under.
Moneyline bettors are liking the Warriors after their odds opened at +130 to close out the series and have moved to +140. Over 70% of bets on the moneyline are on the Warriors to win outright but the Celtics are getting 38% of the money on just 28% of the moneyline bets. The Celtics opened at -155 to win the game and are now at -165.
The most popular prop bet at BetMGM ahead of Game 6 is Jayson Tatum to score the game’s first field goal at +550. Bettors also like Klay Thompson to be Game 6 Klay and score more than 20.5 points (-105) and Steph Curry to top 28.5 points (-120).
The people betting Curry to score 29 or more are likely also a lot of the same ones backing Curry to make more than 4.5 threes at -115 after he failed to make a three in Game 5.
If there is a Game 7 it’ll be Sunday night in San Francisco. If there isn’t, Curry will likely be named Finals MVP on Thursday night. Curry is -350 to be Finals MVP as the Warriors are -400 to win the series in either six or seven games. If Boston comes back and wins the series, Tatum is the overwhelming favorite to be the Celtics’ MVP choice at +375. Andrew Wiggins is the No. 3 favorite for Finals MVP at +1800.
