The injury of LeBron James and an impressive stretch by the Brooklyn Nets without Kevin Durant have jeopardized the NBA betting market.
The Nets have outscored the Los Angeles Lakers in several sports betting and are now the consensus favorites to win the NBA title. Brooklyn has won 15 of its last 17 games and moved up to second in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the Philadelphia 76ers. Durant has missed the last 15 games with a hamstring injury that is expected to set him aside a few more games.
James suffered a sprained ankle on Saturday in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks, an injury that could put him off for several weeks. The Lakers no longer have Anthony Davis, who has had a calf strain and tendinosis in his right leg for more than a month and is expected to miss at least another week.
The Lakers lost their second straight game Sunday in Phoenix and have fallen to third place in the Western Conference. There are only four games left in eighth place for the Dallas Mavericks.
“You’ll see the Lakers as a big daredevil on the road and a little puppy at home,” said Jeff Sherman, vice president of SuperBook Risk at Westgate Las Vegas. “You catch these two guys [James and Davis] off the team and it will be a fight for a place in the playoffs. “
Sherman moved the Nets to 2-1 to win the NBA title after James ’injury and dropped the Lakers to 4-1, their longest chance of the season.
Other sports books were more cautious with the Lakers’ odds in anticipation of James and Davis returning to the playoffs. In New Jersey, in William Hill’s Caesars Sportsbook, the Lakers continued to be the title favorites at +260, slightly ahead of the Nets at +280.
“I’ve increased the Lakers’ odds a bit and reduced some of the other Western Conference teams, ”Adam Pullen, William Hill’s deputy director of commerce, told ESPN. “But you can’t go too crazy like [James] you have plenty of time to be healthy before the playoffs, if you need to. If it turns out that this injury is much worse, we will have to make some important adjustments. “
The DraftKings sports book also kept the Lakers as favorites starting Monday morning, but most books had the Nets most likely.
With James and 76ers star Joel Embiid out due to injury, Denver Nuggets center-back Nikola Jokic has become the favorite to win the regular season MVP. Jokic is +110 to William Hill, followed by James (+450) and Embiid (+600).
James Harden of the Nets, who went up to 100-1 to win MVP at one point, is now 10-1.