Spurs Open as NBA Finals Favorites Over Knicks at DraftKings

At DraftKings Sportsbook in New York, the Knicks have attracted nearly half of all money wagered on the NBA Finals winner this season, almost as much as every other team combined. On Saturday night, the Spurs opened as high as -220 favorites to win the NBA Finals, with the Knicks installed as around +180 underdogs.

The price moved toward the Knicks, and as of Sunday morning the Spurs were -200 favorites.

The Knicks swept their two previous series in the Eastern Conference playoffs and have won 11 straight games. They have not played since May 25 and will have eight days off when they face the Spurs on Wednesday in Game 1 in San Antonio. 5-point favorites in Game 1.

This is the ninth Finals matchup between a team that swept its previous series and an opponent that went seven games. The team coming off the sweep went 5-3 in the previous eight such Finals, according to ESPN Research. com.

The Knicks began the season at 10-1, saw their odds drift as long as 19-1 during the regular season, and reached 35-1 briefly in the postseason. "Knicks are unsurprisingly very heavily bet on in New York, more so than any other state, both per game and in the futures," David Lieberman, Caesars Sportsbook's lead NBA trader, told ESPN.

He added that both the Knicks and Spurs are liabilities for the house in the book's futures market.

Victor Wembanyama is a -185 favorite to be named Finals MVP at DraftKings Sportsbook. Since the Defensive Player of the Year award was first distributed in 1983, the only player to win DPOY and Finals MVP in the same season was Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994, according to ESPN Research.