What to bet on Friday: NBA, WNBA Finals and more (updated)

The NBA Finals, the WNBA Finals, two baseball playoff games and college football.

Here’s the betting menu for Friday (odds at the Westgate, updated at 10 a.m.):

College football

Campbell (+1,800 ML) at Wake Forest (-34½, 69, -8,000 ML), 4 p.m. (ACC Network)

The Demon Deacons (0-2) should earn their first victory of the season as massive favorites over the Football Championship Subdivision’s Fighting Camels. Wake Forest has lost to Clemson (37-13) and North Carolina State (45-42) to open the season. Campbell is 0-3 but has covered all three games as an underdog of +27½ or more against Georgia Southern, Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State.

Line movement: Line was Wake Forest -33½, no total posted, ML -10,000/+2,500 overnight at Boyd Gaming. This morning’s spread and total are from the Westgate with an updated ML from Boyd.

Louisiana Tech (+1,100) at No. 22 Brigham Young (-24, 60, -2,500), 6 p.m. (ESPN2)

The host Cougars go for their third straight blowout win to open the season. BYU beat up Navy 55-3 in the opener, then cruised past Troy 48-7 on Saturday. Louisiana Tech is also 2-0 after edging Southern Mississippi 31-30 and defeating Houston Baptist 66-38. The line opened at BYU -23½ and reached -24½ before meeting resistance. The total has risen steadily from 56½.

Line movement: Total up from 59½.

NBA Finals

(at Lake Buena Vista, Florida)

Los Angeles Lakers (-9½, 216½, -550) vs. Miami (+425), Game 2, 6 p.m. (KTNV-13)

The underdog Heat couldn’t have imagined a worse Game 1. The Lakers crushed Miami 116-98 (and it wasn’t that close), and Heat starters Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo suffered injuries. They are listed as doubtful for Game 2, and the line has risen from Lakers -4½ in the opener to -9½. Game 1 went just under 217½, and the total is down a point for Game 2. The Lakers are -4,000 to win the series (Heat +1,400).

Line movement: ML up from Los Angeles -500.

WNBA Finals

(at Bradenton, Florida)

Aces (+200) vs. Seattle (-5½, 164, -240), Game 1, 4 p.m. (ESPN2)

Las Vegas enters its first WNBA Finals as a heavy underdog (+300) to the Storm (-360). Both teams finished 18-4 in the regular season, and the Aces won both of their meetings to earn the No. 1 seed. However, Las Vegas had to fight back from a 2-1 deficit in the semifinals against Connecticut, while Seattle swept Minnesota. The Aces also lost Sixth Woman of the Year Dearica Hamby for the season to a knee injury suffered against Connecticut. The Storm won the WNBA championship in 2018. The most likely series result is a three-game sweep by Seattle (+200).

Line movement: Seattle up from -5.

MLB

(Pitchers subject to change)

(Note: xFIP is an advanced stat that is a more accurate measure of a pitcher’s performance than ERA.)

Wild Card Series

National League

Miami (+177) at Chicago Cubs (-194, 7 under -125), Game 2, 11 a.m. (KTNV-13)

Probable pitchers: Miami’s Sixto Sanchez (RHP, 3-2, 3.46 ERA, 4.08 xFIP) vs. Chicago’s Yu Darvish (RHP, 8-3, 2.01 ERA, 2.82 xFIP)

Notes: This game was postponed Thursday because of the weather. The scheduled starters have stayed the same. Darvish has been elite this year but is only 2-4 with a 5.81 ERA (4.07 xFIP) in six playoff starts, though two of those came in the Astros’ tainted World Series victory in 2017. Marlins rookie Sanchez will be making his playoff debut and eighth career start overall. The Marlins are -180 to win the series (Cubs +160) after winning 5-1 on Wednesday in Game 1.

St. Louis (+109) at San Diego (-119, 9 over -125), Game 3, 4 p.m. (ESPN)

Probable pitchers: St. Louis’ Jack Flaherty (RHP, 4-3, 4.91 ERA, 3.42 xFIP) vs. undecided

Notes: The host Padres (-155) forced a decisive Game 3 with a comeback 11-9 victory Thursday. The game went way over 9. San Diego fell behind 4-0 after two innings but scored nine runs in its last three at-bats, including two home runs each by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Wil Myers. Now the Padres have to figure out who to put on the mound for Game 3. They have not declared a starter, and it appears San Diego will cobble together a bullpen game with its season on the line after starters Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet were hurt before the series started. The Cardinals will counter with Flaherty, who is 1-2 with a 4.24 ERA (2.56 xFIP) in three career postseason starts.

What happened Thursday

NFL

— Denver (+1) earned its first victory of the season, beating the host New York Jets 37-28. The game easily went over 41. The line moved over the course of the week from as high as Broncos -3 to as high as Jets -1½. Early bettors who took the Jets +3 or +2½ lost when Melvin Gordon ran 43 yards for a touchdown with 1:48 left with Denver trying to run out the clock, extending the Broncos’ margin from two to nine. The Broncos won despite losing the turnover battle 3-0, including an interception returned for a touchdown. First-time starter Brett Rypien threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns to go with the three interceptions for Denver. Sam Darnold threw for 230 yards and rushed for 84 yards for the Jets, including a spectacular 46-yard TD run to open the scoring. The Broncos gained 5.7 yards per play to New York’s 4.3.

MLB

Favorites went 3-1, and totals split 2-2. Notes on the three series that ended Thursday:

— Oakland (+105) won its first elimination game since 1973, beating the Chicago White Sox 6-4 to win the series 2-1. The game went over 9. The Athletics had lost nine straight win-or-go-home games and had not won a playoff game of any kind since 2013. The White Sox led 3-0 after three innings, but the A’s responded with four in the fourth. After Chicago tied the game in the fifth, Chad Pinder hit a two-run single in the bottom of the inning to put Oakland ahead for good. The Athletics will face Houston in the Division Series.

— Atlanta (-140) finished 22 scoreless innings against Cincinnati with a 5-0 victory to sweep the series. The game stayed under 7½. The Braves won 1-0 in 13 innings in Game 1. Ian Anderson allowed two hits in six innings, and three relievers each pitched a perfect inning to finish off the Reds. Atlanta led only 1-0 into the eighth inning, but two-run home runs by Marcell Ozuna and Adam Duvall provided cushion. The Braves will next face the winner of the Chicago Cubs and Miami.

— The Los Angeles Dodgers (-240) rode a masterful performance from ace Clayton Kershaw to a 3-0 victory over Milwaukee and a sweep of the series. The game stayed under 7½. Kershaw needed only 93 pitches to get through eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits with 13 strikeouts and one walk. The Dodgers will next face the winner of San Diego and St. Louis.

Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.