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New York’s success in the Finals has been great for the public, especially live bettors during the most-wagered NBA game ever at DraftKings.
Key Takeaways
- Game 4 generated more betting action than any NBA game in DraftKings’ history.
- The Knicks have captured a wide betting audience both in New York and across the U.S.
- Bettors are already backing underdog New York in Game 5 in San Antonio.
The Knicks pulled off an incredible 29-point rally to go up 3-1 in the best-of-seven Finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday in a game that was highly favorable to bettors, both before and during the contest.
“The Knicks and the public are locked in on each other, and it’s been going well for the general public,” DraftKings’ Johnny Avello told Covers on Friday.
That’s a trend that will likely continue heading into Saturday’s Game 5 when the Knicks can clinch their first championship since 1973.
Avello doesn’t believe the series shifting back to San Antonio on Saturday will hurt the betting handle at this point, and he predicted before the series began that this would be the most-bet NBA Finals at DraftKings since the company began operating legal sports betting in 2018.
“We knew that there was going to be Knicks money. We knew that from the outset,” Avello said. “We’ve had future money on them throughout the year, and the hype was so high on them coming to the series that we knew the bettors would be playing them on the moneyline, especially when they were underdogs.”
Title-contender turnaround
Aside from last year when this team made the Eastern Conference finals, the Knicks have largely been starved for success over the last two decades. Still, in the most populous city in the U.S., they remain king.
With New York natives spread across the country, celebrities appearing at games, and television ratings through the roof, the Knicks have become an incredibly popular team to watch and bet on.
“The stars show up. People are tuning in to see who’s coming to the game,” Avello said. “It’s just created a hysteria. It’s incredible with this team, how people have backed this team.”
The Empire State, which leads all jurisdictions in sports betting handle each month, certainly carried a large percentage of the amount wagered on Game 4, but Avello said there was plenty of Knicks action from across the U.S. and through sports contract trading on DraftKings Predictions.
“Customers hung with them, and played them throughout the game,” Avello said.
Bettor-friendly comeback
Bettors feasted on numerous live moneyline odds Wednesday. Avello said the longest they got at DraftKings was +2,200 in the first half. Bettors weren’t deterred and had no problem firing on New York throughout the second half, even when they were down 22 points with eight minutes to play.
The Knicks were still over +1,000 at times in the final quarter before they took their first lead with 1:22 remaining. After falling behind 106-105 with under a minute left, OG Anunoby tipped in the game-winning shot with two seconds remaining, lifting New York to a 107-106 victory in front of a raucous Big Apple crowd.
“These are the comeback kids, and you know, the bettors, they’ve been betting this team when they’re down,” Avello said. “They have as much confidence in wagering on the Knicks as the Knicks do in winning the game themselves.”
Will the Spurs recover?
The Knicks head into Saturday night as -500 favorites to win the series but 5.5-point underdogs to do it in Game 5.
DraftKings has already seen 75% of the bets and 85% of the money come in on the Knicks by Friday afternoon. More than 80% of the wagers are backing New York at +164 on the moneyline.
“The feeling now is that San Antonio won’t be able to recover,” Avello said. “This is the feeling from the bettor that I’m kind of seeing. We knew that the Knicks money would come in each and every game, so no, there’ll be no drop-off here.”
This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.
