The Things You Need to Know for the NBA Conference Finals
In the Eastern Conference The Boston Celtics dominated the Milwaukee Bucks in Game-7 of their second semifinal series with a 109-81 win that covered the spread by 23 points. The Under wager also won easily covering the 205.5-point Total by 15.5 points. Grant Williams scored a career-high 27 points and hit seven 3-pointers, Jayson Tatum added 23 and Boston set a Game 7 record with 22 3-pointers
Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns embarrassed themselves with a shockingly poor performance, losing to the Dallas Mavericks 123-90 as 6.5-point favorites and with the Over wager winning by 8.5 points. At the half of this Game-7, the Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic had more points than the entire Phoenix Suns team. Doncic and teammate Spencer Dinwiddie became the 8th pair of teammates to score 30+ points in a Game-7 and was the first pair to achieve this remarkable feat since Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in the Western Conference finals against the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers went on to win the NBA Championship over the New Jersey Nets in a 4-game sweep.
The Celtics will take on the No.1 seed Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, which is a rematch the East Finals in the ‘bubble’ season of the 2020 season held in Walt Disney World, in which the Heat defeated the Celtics in 6 games.
The 4-seed Mavericks will travel to San Francisco to take on the 3-seed Warriors in their first return to the Conference Finals since 2011. The Mavericks became the 34th road team to win a Game-7 and now, the home team is 110-34 for 77% wins.
The Betting Trends in the 2022 NBA Playoffs
The home teams are 47-28 straight-up and 39-36 against the spread including a 27-46-2 Over-Under record good for 63% winning Under bets in the playoffs this season.
- Home favorites are 36-12 straight-up and 27-21 against the spread including 16-31-1 Over-Under good for 66% winning Under bets in the playoffs this season.
- Home dogs are 11-16 straight-up and 12-15 against the spread including 11-15-1 Over-Under for 58% winning Under nets in the playoffs this season.
- Home favorites coming off a straight-up loss are 18-7 straight-up and 13-12 against the spread including a highly profitable 5-20-0 Over-Under record good for 80% winning Under bets in the playoffs this season.
- Home favorites coming off a straight-up win are 18-5 straight-up and 14-9 against the spread including an even 11-11-1 Over-Under record in the playoffs this season.
- Home teams that are the better seed are 28-9 straight-up and 24-13 against the spread including 15-21-1 Over-Under for 58% winning Under wagers in the playoffs this season.
The Top-5 Situational Anges for the NBA Conference Finals you Need to Know
- Home Favorites are 113-55 straight-up and 87-81 against the spread including a 75-88-5 Over-Under record for 54% winning Under wagers spanning the previous 20 playoff seasons.
- Home favorites coming off a straight-up loss are 50-24 straight-up and 43-31 against the spread for 58.1% winning bets including a 29-43-2 Over-Under record good for 60% winning Under wagers spanning the last 20 playoff seasons (11-5 straight-up and against the spread with a 6-10-0 Over-Under record last 5 playoff seasons)
- Home favorites of 3.5 to 9.5 points that are coming off a straight-up loss are 35-12 straight-up and 29-18 against the spread including an even 23-23-1 Over-Under record spanning the last 20 playoff seasons. Plus, 6-1 straight-up and against the spread with a 3-4 Over-Under record spanning the last five playoff seasons.
- Double-Digit home favorites are 10-1 straight-up and 6-5 against the spread including a 3-8 Over-Under record spanning the last 20 playoff seasons. The lone loss occurred May 21, 2017, when the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the visiting Boston Celtics 108-111 as 16.5-point favorites, which was the only loss the Cavaliers had in that Eastern Conference Final. The Cavaliers lost the Warriors 4-1 in the NBA Finals.
- The total has averaged 218 points in the NBA Conference Finals over the last five playoff seasons. The average total had risen for 10 consecutive seasons until last year’s average of 218.36 points fell short of the 2020 average of 222.14 points. In this season’s conference matchups, the average total is going to be far lower, possibly around 211 points, with none of the games likely to be lined above 218 points. Home teams with a total of 215 or fewer points are 15-8 straight-up and 14-8-1 against the spread for 64% winning bets including a 12-11 Over-Under record spanning the last five conference finals.
