Sports betting roundup: Surprises emerge in NBA and NHL playoffs
Indiana Pacers center Thomas Bryant (3) shoots over Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome (2) in the second half of Game 4 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
There have been a few surprises in both the NBA and NHL playoffs, including the No. 1-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers trailing the Indiana Pacers 3-1 in their best-of-seven series.
Indiana is now -325 to win the series at the BetMGM online sportsbook.
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In the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers are knotted at two games apiece following Florida's 2-0 win on Sunday night.
Things will heat up even more this week, with the conference finals matchups in each sport being close to determined.
Trends of the Week
The Panthers, who won 2-0, were -185 on the moneyline against the Maple Leafs on Sunday night, but took in only 18% of the bets and 33% of the money. When it came to the over-under, 56% of the bets and 69% of the money was on the over.
The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Golden States Warriors 102-97 Saturday night on the road to take a 2-1 series lead. Minnesota closed as a 5.5-point favorite, and a meaningless 3-pointer from Golden State's Jonathan Kuminga at the buzzer gave the Warriors the cover. At BetMGM, 85% of the money was on the Timberwolves to cover the 5.5-point spread.
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Upsets of the Week
Cleveland was a 5.5-point favorite for Game 4 against Indiana, but got blown out 129-101 in a game where they trailed by 41 points at the half. Cleveland took in 62% of the bets in against-the-spread betting, and 46% of the money. When it came to the moneyline, Indiana at +185 took in 64% of the bets and 40% of the money.
Golden State's Buddy Hield had hit his over points prop going into Saturday's game, and 99% of the money was on him to go over 14.5 points. Hield finished with 14 points in the Warriors' loss.
Sepp Straka won the Truist Championship, which is a PGA Tour signature event. Straka finished at 16 under for a two-shot win on Sunday. This was his second win of the season. Going into the event, Straka was +3300 to win and took in just 1.6% of the bets and 1% of the money in the outright winner market.
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Coming Up
The NFL schedule will be released on Wednesday, and Super Bowl odds are available for the upcoming season.
The Philadelphia Eagles remain the favorites to repeat at +650. The Baltimore Ravens are right behind at +700, followed by the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs both at +750.
The Detroit Lions round out the top five at +900.
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This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports
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