Sports betting roundup: Big favorites put up big numbers in NBA playoffs

The big favorites in the NBA playoffs all won and covered over the weekend.

The Oklahoma City Thunder (-13.5 vs. the Memphis Grizzlies), Boston Celtics (-13.5 vs. the Orlando Magic) and Cleveland Cavaliers (-12.5 vs. the Miami Heat) all were favored to take the lead in their series at the BetMGM online sportsbook.

The NHL playoffs also got underway while the baseball season had its normal full weekend slate of games and the PGA Tour had another signature event with the RBC Heritage from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

The NBA results continued the trend of big favorites covering in the first round of the NBA playoffs. In the last 10 years, double-digit favorites have gone 35-18-1 (66%) against the spread.

The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-110 in overtime in Game 1 on Saturday. Denver closed as 2.5-point favorites and took in 64% of the bets but only 40% of the money. Despite the game going to overtime, the under of 224.5 hit. When it came to betting, 75% of the money was on the over.

Brett Howden scored an empty-net goal with a tenth of a second left in Vegas' 4-2 win over Minnesota on Sunday. This was meaningless in terms of the result, but it enabled the over of 5.5 goals to hit. In terms of bets, 63% of them and 47% of the money was on the over.

Minnesota upset the Los Angeles Lakers 117-95 in Saturday's Game 1. The Lakers were 4.5-point favorites and took in 63% of the bets and 44% of the money in against-the-spread betting. In terms of the moneyline, Minnesota took in only 35% of bets and 9% of the money.

Houston closed as a 1.5-point favorite against Golden State in Sunday's Game 1 and fell 95-85. The Rockets took in 54% of the bets and 66% of the money in against-the-spread betting.

Justin Thomas won for the first time on the PGA Tour since 2022, beating Andrew Novak on the first playoff hole. Both players finished the tournament at 17-under. Thomas opened the tournament with +2000 odds to win and took in 4.2% of the bets and 6.4% of the money in pre-tournament outright winning betting.

The NFL Draft will get underway Thursday night from Green Bay.

Cameron Ward could be the No. 1 overall pick, with odds of -10000 to hear his name called first. For the No. 2 overall pick, Travis Hunter is the favorite at -1000, while Abdul Carter is -650 to be selected No. 3 overall.

At No. 4, Will Campbell is the odds-on favorite with -650 odds, while No. 5 is a toss-up. Mason Graham is -125, Ashton Jeanty is +200 and Jalon Walker is +650.