A view of Tropicana’s sports book. It is operated by CG Technology.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015 | 4:20 p.m.
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The Golden State Warriors were far and away the best team in the NBA all season, and sports books have finally started treating them accordingly.
On a day where Steph Curry accepted the NBA MVP award in front of his team, the Warriors earned another distinction a few hundred miles away in Las Vegas. Future odds now essentially depict the Warriors’ chances to win the NBA Championship as equal to the other seven teams remaining in the postseason combined.
CG Technology, which operates seven local sports books including at The M and The Venetian, had Golden State at a season-low minus-150 (risking $1.50 to win $1) to win the title Tuesday afternoon.
The price implies a 46 percent chance, adjusting for the house’s hold percentage, that Golden State wins its first championship in 40 years.
The slashed odds — the Warriors opened the playoffs at plus-250 (risking $1 to win $2.50) in the future book — aren’t all their doing. Golden State weren’t the favorite until Cleveland lost Kevin Love for the playoffs in the final game of their opening-round sweep over Boston.
The Bulls knocking off the Cavaliers 99-92 as 4-point underdogs last night in game one of the teams’ eastern conference semifinal series further separated the Warriors. The Bulls and Cavaliers are tied as distant second choices to win the NBA championship at 4-to-1, or 15 percent likelihood apiece.
It’s a dead-even proposition on which team comes out of the series, according to the odds, with both offered at minus-110. The East’s other series is also a virtual pick’em with No. 1 seed Atlanta Hawks clinging on as a minus-120 favorite over the Washington Wizards, offered at Even money.
The Wizards took down the Hawks 104-98 as 6-point underdogs in Sunday’s game one for their fifth straight win and eighth consecutive cover. They catch seven points on the point spread in tonight’s game two.
Members of the Los Angeles Clippers bench celebrate after guard Chris Paul, center, hit a basket with a second left in Game 7 in a first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs, Saturday, May 2, 2015, in Los Angeles. The Clippers won 111-109.
The Los Angeles Clippers joined the Bulls and Wizards in pulling a series opening upset, smashing the Houston Rockets in the second half last night on the way to a 117-101 win as 7.5-point underdogs.
The first four games of the second round have given the playoffs a change of pace with the trio of wins by teams taking points. Golden State was the only favorite to prevail in its opener, beating Memphis 101-86 as a 10.5-point favorite.
There were only 12 outright upsets in 41 first-round games.
The epic Spurs vs. Clippers series, in which Los Angeles won in seven games after coming in as a plus-145 underdog, produced a third of them. The Clippers now have a 63 percent chance of reaching the western conference finals as a minus-185 favorite over the Rockets, which comes back at plus-165.
CG Tehcnology has no series price posted for the Warriors vs. Grizzlies. Golden State is too far ahead of the competition.
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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