Even at 9999-to-1 odds, not a single bet was placed on the Philadelphia 76ers to win the NBA Championship before the season began at the LVH SuperBook.
That has changed.
After beating the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, a rash of money came in on the Sixers to win it all at the LVH. In fact, more NBA title futures bets were placed on the Sixers on Sunday than on any other team at the LVH, according to NBA oddsmaker and bookmanager Jeff Sherman.
Philadelphia now sits at 100-to-1.
The LVH slashed the Sixers’ odds in half, down to 5,000-to-1, after they beat the Miami Heat. Sherman took one $5 bet on Philly at that price. After the Chicago win, they moved the Sixers down to 1,000-to-1. That’s when the money started showing up.
“Most of them were $10 or $20 bets, but we also got a couple hundred-dollar, two-hundred bets on them (at 1,000/1),” said Sherman. “That’s why they’re down to 100-to-1.”
Sherman opened the Sixers at 16.5, the lowest season win total he ever remembers setting. He says he received very little action on the win total, but did move Philadelphia up to 17.5 wins before the season. He never expected them to win their first three. No one did.
“We put as much work into our NBA win totals as we ever have,” Sherman said. “New coach, trading Jrue Holiday for a draft pick and saying they were going to shut down (Nerlens) Noel for the whole season. It just looked like they were going to do whatever they had to do to end up with one of the top picks in the draft. You have to give all the credit to Brett Brown and that coaching staff.”
Of course, it’s way too early for anyone or any book to become overly concerned with the 76ers winning the title. They remain one of the lowest power-rated teams and are 6.5-point home underdogs to Golden State tonight.
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Updated NBA Championship Odds
(Courtesy Las Vegas Hotel & Casino SuperBook)
Heat 7-4
Thunder 6
Bulls 6
Spurs 12
Pacers 10
Clippers 10
Grizzlies 40
Knicks 40
Lakers 200
Nuggets 60
Warriors 15
Rockets 8
Mavericks 50
Celtics 1000
Nets 12
Hawks 300
Jazz 1000
Blazers 40
Wolves 40
Pelicans 100
Kings 500
Cavaliers 60
Wizards 100
Raptors 100
76ers 100
Bucks 1000
Suns 1000