Las Vegas sportsbooks hoping for one more NBA Finals game
Action on Thursday’s Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Warriors and the Raptors is fairly balanced around town.
Bookmakers still have a rooting interest in the outcome.
While a Raptors win would close the door on the NBA season, a Warriors victory would give sportsbooks one more game to put up on the board Sunday night in Toronto.
Thursday’s tip-off is scheduled for just after 6 p.m.
“It would be fantastic,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich said of a potential Game 7. “Every game in the series has been bet off the charts. The interest in this series has been so high. There’s been so many storylines. It’s got 52 million moving parts. It’s been great.
“Obviously when we put the NBA to bed, it means two major sports will be put to sleep and we’ll just be stuck with three-dollar baseball favorites, so we’re hoping for as many games as possible.”
The Warriors are favored to make it happen. Golden State is a consensus 2½-point favorite to win Thursday night’s game.
William Hill, along with most books, opened the game at 3½ and took Raptors money before moving to 3 and getting more Toronto backers.
It has settled in with balanced action at 2½.
The total is 212 at most spots, but a flood of over money has William Hill at 212½.
“That’s our only decision right now,” Bogdanovich said. “The side and money line are like dead even right now, but we need under pretty good.”
The veteran bookmaker is glad he’s behind the counter instead of trying to handicap a side he likes in the game.
“I’ve been trying to figure it out all day long,” he said. “My gut is telling me (Klay) Thompson and Steph Curry find a way to get it back to Toronto.
”My mind is telling me Toronto is going to win it at some point. Obviously they had a great chance last game and I think they’ll have a chance again tonight, but my gut just keeps saying Thompson and Curry are going to will it to a Game 7. I do think the Raptors will win at some point in the series, though.”
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.