NBA Playoff Underdog Betting
Before the season began, it was essentially a guarantee that the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers would meet for the third year in a row. While many may still feel confident that that will be the case, there are several other teams worth paying attention to if you want to enjoy NBA playoff underdog betting. Whether you are betting on potential first round upsets, or looking towards the future and thinking of betting on a team that isn’t getting enough respect to win an NBA Championship,
Potential First Round Upsets
The Warriors locked up the one seed in the West so they play the 8 seed Portland Trailblazers in the first round of the playoffs and the Cavaliers, a 2 seed in the East, will battle the 7 seed Indiana Pacers. Neither of these series’ should threaten these title favorites so betting on either would be risky, to say the least. That being said, you could stand to win yourself a lot of money on these two teams if they do the seemingly impossible because they have the worst odds to win the NBA Finals of any team in the playoffs. The Blazers playoff odds are currently at +12500, and the Pacers playoff odds are even worse at +15000.
Some other first round NBA playoff upsets that should be hot on the betting market include the 5 seed Atlanta Hawks (5) over the Wizards (4), and the Oklahoma City Thunder (6) over the Houston Rockets (3). The Thunder and Rockets series will certainly be one of the biggest storylines in all of the playoffs as it pits the two leading contenders for the MVP against each other in Russell Westbrook and James Harden. James Harden has been very vocal about thinking he deserves the MVP because his team has won more games than Westbrooks squad which just adds fuel to the fire for this matchup. This will make for a ton of different betting lines and is the most intriguing round one matchup that could generate the most buzz on your favorite sportsbook.
Underdogs With The Best Chance Of Winning The NBA Finals
The Warriors and Cavaliers have essentially been penciled into everybody’s predicted 2017 NBA Finals before the playoffs have even started, heck, before the season even started. That may very well happen but if you are looking to win some money betting on NBA Finals underdogs, then the top seeds aren’t the way to go.
In the last 20 NBA seasons, either a 1 seed or a 2 seed has won the NBA Championship 16 times and the last time a team lower than a 3 seed won was the 1995 6 seeded Houston Rockets. These numbers are overwhelming and may deter a lot of bettors from wagering on the lower seeds but that will just open up more of an opportunity to win big while betting on the lower seeds.
Probably the best non-1 or 2 seed in the NBA playoffs are the Houston Rockets. We mentioned the Rockets as being a high seed that can potential be upset in the first round but the adverse of that could also happen. At the three position they will play the Thunder in the first round, and if they can get passed Westbrook then they move on to play the winner of Spurs and Grizzlies series. The Spurs (2) have been battling injuries all year and while they are a great team, the Rockets could absolutely upset them and potentially move on to face the title favorites in the Warriors (1). The Rockets actually match up fairly well against the Warriors because they play a similar brand of basketball. Both teams can shoot the lights out of the gym and have deep benches that can take some pressure off of their stars. Though the Rockets only accumulated a 1 and 3 record against the Warriors in the regular season, each game had a playoff feel to it. If the Rockets can get passed the Dubs with home court advantage, they can take on anybody in the East.
Some other teams that SportsBettingStates.com thinks are worth placing a few bucks on with hopes of winning big are the Washington Wizards (4) and the LA Clippers (4).