NBA Finals: Spurs favourites to halt the three-peat
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With Miami, the two-time defending champions, having beaten San Antonio in last year’s final and able to call on LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in offence the Gut Truster in you could be tempted to back the Heat.
However, the betting ahead of the NBA Championship series suggests a different story – if only by the narrowest of margins.
Miami are the 20/21 slight underdogs for the showpiece series, while the Spurs are the favourites at 23/20.
With the odds on either side indicating a close series the advice to outright backers will be the same as to those contesting the games: Go big or go home!
It takes a brave punter to oppose a team that has gone 8-0 at home in the playoffs this year with multi-MVP winner James among their ranks but the general consensus of this final is that the three-peat will be thwarted with the Spurs winning a seven-game spectacle.
But it is worth noting that in both regular season match-ups this year James was played into the shadows by Bosh, who top scored for Miami in both meetings.
This may not be enough to suggest that King James will fail to make a big impact in the series but it is enough to sow the seed of doubt.
The Spurs went 9-1 at home in the run to the finals so the Championship looks set to be won and lost by the narrowest of margins.
The majority of the neutrals keeping tabs will be rooting for San Antonio, with the Spurs proving the epitome of the word team under Greg Popovich in recent years.
The likeable trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker will curry more favour with basketball purists than the superstar egos from Miami in James and Wade so, while the Gut Truster in you might lean toward the Heat, The Believer will be backing the Spurs all the way.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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