What Odds Would You have Gotten if You had Taken the Miami Heat and Florida Panthers?
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The NBA and NHL postseasons have been particularly exciting this year and one thing is clear. These second seasons have been one for the ages.
And for those sports betting players, it could have been a rewarding run so far.
Boston A Huge Favorite In The NBA and NHL
The Boston Celtics came in as the second seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference with a 57-25 record. The Celtics eased their way past Atlanta in Round 1 and squeaked by Philadelphia in Round 2 (seven games). Game 7 was a blowout, but that is a minor detail. Their conference final opponent would be the eight-seed Miami Heat.
The Boston Bruins produced the most points in an 82-game season in the NHL. Jim Montgomery led the Bruins to a 65-12-5 record and faced a Florida Panthers team who needed a Chicago win over Pittsburgh to make it into the postseason. Here is where the similarities go a bit off course.
The Boston basketball story saw the Celtics go down three games to none against Miami in short order. Things looked deathly bleak. Meanwhile, the Bruins went up three games to 1 early on the Florida Panthers. Furthermore, the Bruins were getting their captain back as Patrice Bergeron was returning.
For those wondering, the Celtics were a -525 favorite to beat the Heat, and the Bruins were initially a -400 favorite to defeat the Panthers (the live number after Game 4 was -2000).
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The Unthinkable Happened In Both Series
When Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers rallied to win three straight games versus Boston, that was a cataclysmic upset. No one saw it coming. An eighth-seeded Florida team winning three straight versus the mighty Bruins.
Few expected the Miami Heat to win three straight to start the Eastern Conference Final against Boston. What became equally crazy was Boston rallying to tie the series. Game 6 was one Miami should have won, yet Boston stole the contest in the final seconds.
Indeed, Boston was about to complete history, becoming the first team to come back from an 0-3 hole in the NBA, right?
Of course, Game 7 featured an iconic moment where it all went wrong for Boston. The Celtics’ Jayson Tatum injured his ankle on the game's first play. From there, everything went south for Boston as they got blown out 103-84 at home.
Yes, the Heat still had to win the game. However, the longer Game 7 went on, the more academic the result would be.
So, What Are The Odds?
The crazy aspect of anything with sports betting is we can put a number on that. Thanks to John Ryan from Rotowire.com, who was kind enough to help me with some of the data that got lost in the shuffle.
So, the Bruins and Panthers were around +2500 to go seven games. However, the Celtics and Heat were only about +250 to +300. This is where things get very interesting. A series parlay outcome would have gone up to around +9000 or +10000.
At the beginning of each series, what if one had simply bet on the Panthers and Heat to win? Depending on the book, that would have paid out in the +2000 to +2500 range. Then, there was the inevitable. What about the Panthers and Heat both winning in seven games?
This is where it becomes a matter of some debate. Numbers depended on the books and timing. However, if one used a based point at the start of the playoffs. Consider that each team that could win by itself was around +1100 to +1300 in a Game 7 scenario. Both would have produced numbers in the +15000 to +20000 range.
It proves that one never knows when it comes to sports betting. One thing is more sure. It’s going to be a long summer in Boston.
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