LAS VEGAS (AP) — The New York Knicks, outside of the five boroughs and surrounding suburbs, weren't considered legitimate favorites to win the NBA Finals for most of the season and even into the playoffs.
And now they're here, one of the two teams remaining.
New York remains an underdog, but only slightly, and the idea of ending a 53-year drought without a championship no longer seems so far-fetched as the finals against San Antonio begin Wednesday.
“I really like the Knicks to win the series,” longtime handicapper Bruce Marshall said. “Fundamentally, they're causing a lot of problems now.”
Bettors are torn, with each team receiving roughly the same action at BetMGM Sportsbook and Caesars Sportsbook.
And the lines reflect that. The Spurs are -210 to win the series at BetMGM and -185 at Caesars.
“There's lot of people that think both teams have a pretty good shot,” Caesars NBA trader David Lieberman said. “It's been kind of surprisingly even. We haven't had a (significant line) movement at all, and it's just been pretty 50-50 so far.”
This finals represents close to a worst-case scenario for BetMGM. Knicks fans have been pouring money into wagering on their team and some threw money on the Spurs at 25-1 going into the season.
“The book normally wouldn't want to talk about it, but so far both outcomes for us is a losing outcome as we go into these finals,” BetMGM sports trader Christian Cipollini said. “It's pretty rare.”
While the Knicks were resting and recharging after sweeping Cleveland on May 25, the Spurs still had five more days left in what became a seven-game series against defending champion Oklahoma City.
If New York made best use of its time, the Knicks could win Game 1 and steal home-court advantage. But the Knicks also had a similar layoff between sweeping Philadelphia and the Eastern Conference final against Cleveland, which was coming off a seven-game series with Detroit.
The Cavaliers looked to be in control in Game 1 of East final, taking a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Knicks stormed back to win in overtime.
San Antonio has gone from a 5-point to 4 1/2-point favorites to win Game 1 after money came in on the Knicks.
New York, after falling behind 2-1 in the first round to Atlanta, blew through the East in the playoffs. The Knicks won 11 straight games by an average 23.8-point margin.
But could the lack of competition in the weaker East be exposed by the Spurs? Or were the Knicks just that good?
“It was pretty much well-known and stated that basically the winner of the West is going to win this finals,” Cipollini said. “But I think that narrative has changed in the public view just because this Knicks team is playing so well. You have to think this Knicks team has a chance because bad teams don't dominate in the way that they have over the last few series.”
If the Spurs win, Victor Wembanyama almost certainly will be named finals MVP. He is the -190 favorite at BetMGM and -180 at Caesars.
New York's Jalen Brunson is next at +200 and +185, respectively, and then the odds drop off substantially.
“It would be a surprise if anyone else did (win MVP),” Lieberman said. “But we were looking through some of the prices. There's some juicy, maybe speculative, bets to be made on guys that have played well recently.”
One of those could be New York's Karl-Anthony Towns, who is 22-1 (BetMGM) and 12-1 (Caesars) because coach Mike Brown often puts the ball in his hands.
“When they were in trouble in the Atlanta series, (Brown) made a subtle adjustment to part of the time run the offense through KAT,” Marshall said. “One, that sort of caught Atlanta flat-footed. Two, it sort of got KAT more engaged and more animated. That triggered him.”
The teams split the regular-season series, and when there was a trophy on the line, the Knicks prevailed with a 124-113 victory to win the NBA Cup. San Antonio led for most of the game before the Knicks went on a 13-1 run that began late in the third quarter to take the lead for good.
But that also was in December, what seems like a lifetime ago.
“I'm so curious to see what happens in Game 1 because because regular season and the playoffs can be much different,” Cipollini said. “There's so much more effort that goes into the matchups, and every single possession is so much more inflated and so much more important. The Knicks certainly have a shot in this series.”
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