Bettors Leaning Toward Underdog Knicks Over Favored Spurs in NBA Finals

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Despite the San Antonio Spurs dethroning the reigning league champions and looking like the team to beat heading into the best-of-seven NBA Finals, bettors are finding plenty of value with the underdog New York Knicks.

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Key Takeaways

FanDuel and DraftKings both reported that more than 60% of the money is on underdog New York to win the NBA title. 

Caesars has taken more Knicks tickets, but the handle is leaning toward the favored Spurs. 

Several big bets with large payouts were made at opportune times.

Three U.S. sportsbooks told Covers this week that the Eastern Conference champs are taking more action than the Victor Wembanyama-led Spurs to win the series at around 2-to-1 odds before Wednesday’s Game 1.

“Early action has seen this series pretty evenly bet to this point,” David Lieberman, Caesars Sportsbook’s pro basketball lead, said. “As far as tickets, there are more on the Knicks so far by about 2:1, while the Spurs have taken slightly more money.”

FanDuel reported that the Knicks, who are currently +162 in the NBA Finals odds, are getting 56% of the bets and 65% of the handle. DraftKings said 63% of the money is backing New York, leaving the Spurs with 37% of the handle.

Bigger liability

Since the NBA championship market opened last summer, BetMGM has seen the Knicks take 14.1% of the total wagers, with San Antonio second at 12.2%. However, the Spurs, who took a smaller percentage of the money, are a bigger threat to the operator.

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“The Spurs have the best player and the better overall team, making them clear favorites in the NBA Finals,” BetMGM sports trader Anthony Parenti said. “The sportsbook will be cheering for the Knicks as San Antonio is the biggest remaining liability on the futures book.”

The Spurs are a 4.5-point favorite at home in Game 1, and DraftKings reported early Wednesday that 55% of the handle and 54% of the bets have come in on the underdog Knicks to cover the spread.

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Spurs’ series odds

Knicks’ series…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bettors-leaning-toward-underdog-knicks-151300831.html

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Publish date : 2026-06-02 15:13:00

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