Sports Betting
Darren Rovell, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Warriors favorites for title, Vegas says

NBA, Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers

The Golden State Warriors remain the favorites to win the NBA title.

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, which made the Warriors the favorites earlier this month, currently have them at 5-12 odds to win it all, with the Cavaliers getting 2-1 odds to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy next month. The series starts June 4 in Oakland, California.

If it feels like the Warriors are getting too much credit, there's a science to it.

"We made the Warriors a six-point favorite in Game 1, then we took the next six games and played it out," said Jeff Sherman, head NBA oddsmaker for the SuperBook. "We take who would be the favorite in each game, by how many points and what the money line would be. We then put individual prices in and it calculates what the series price should be."

Despite the fact that sports books in Las Vegas had the Cavaliers as long shots before LeBron James agreed to join the team last summer, there's not much concern over the team winning the title since the high odds were adjusted quickly.

"We had them at 60-1, but as soon as the rumors started, we dropped it down to 20-1, and then when LeBron announced he was coming back, it was down to 5-2," Sherman said.

Jay Rood, the head of the race and sports book for MGM Resorts, said his book across 12 properties took about 20 bets at 50-1 on the Cavs before James signed, which is a blip when considering how many total bets were made.

The Warriors, who opened at 25-1 for the NBA title, got steady support all year, though Sherman said the SuperBook made plenty of money off the Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio Spurs -- and, believe it or not, the Los Angeles Lakers.

"In terms of the number of tickets we wrote, the Lakers were in our top five up until the All-Star break," Sherman said.

John Avello, who runs the race and sports book at the Wynn, said this year's finals will be strange because he's guaranteed to be a loser.

"I would say 90 percent of the time, I'm going to win from one of the teams that are playing," Avello said. "I can't remember being in this position since 1991, when the Twins and the Braves were in the World Series."

Despite talk about the Cavaliers and the Warriors starting out at long odds to win the title, Avello said that's not why he'll be down.

"It's more about bigger bets when the Cavaliers and the Warriors were closer to being the favorites," Avello said.

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