The 2013 NBA Playoffs provided more than their share of exciting basketball action for the fans of both the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat. Seldom have we seen two teams so evenly matched play such one sided games. Victories in this series came in double-digit figures and see-sawed back and forth between the two championship seeking teams.
Home court advantage was ever present but seemed to be unable to stop the ‘blowouts’ by either team. Miami could not put together two victories in a row…no matter what the odds and bookmakers took a beating from wise guys and everyday players alike as they zigzagged their wagers between the two clubs and guessed correctly more than not.
Bettors had been able to depend on the Heat to always make a comeback after a loss. It was a given formula for winning… until game 6. Previously, there was a span of 11 straight games where the spread never even came into play. The Heat either won and covered… or lost and didn’t cover in perfectly symmetrical order.
But then, in game 6, the Heat won but, did not cover. They went off as 7 point favorites and won the game by only 3 points in an exciting overtime. The Spurs had led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter. They led by 5 points with 24 seconds to go before San Antonio had a defensive lapse allowing veteran Ray Allen to sink a 3 pointer from the corner and bring the Heat back to life.
So, still following the pattern that had been so successful previously in the playoffs, bettors started coming down heavily on the Spurs on the day of the game causing the spread to move from the original -7 to a -5 at tip-off.
The director of the South Point SportsBook, Bert Osborne said just before game 7 began, “You could see what the public was feeling yesterday. I could have made the move last night, in the morning it was still coming in on the Spurs at the same pace, I just moved, because I’m not going to fight the trend all day.” South Point had Miami listed as 5.5 point favorites at tip-off.
Osborne even speculated that, in order to attract large money on the Heat, it might take a -5 to be offered. He also admitted that his biggest risk involved the Spurs winning outright and the totals going over. At game time the totals were 189.
