NBA fans thought they would have Friday night all to themselves … well the Clippers had other thoughts.
On Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Clippers upset the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of their first round series as 15-point underdogs, the second-biggest playoff upset since 2005.
The largest playoff upset came in the 2017 playoffs when the Boston Celtics took out LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-108 as 15.5-point underdogs in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Since 2005, double-digit underdogs in the NBA playoffs are now 10-107 straight up, with the LA Clippers representing two of those 10 wins in this series against the Warriors.
Plus, only four teams since 2005 have won in the playoffs with a moneyline of 10-1 or higher and LA also represents two of those four wins.
In Game 2 at home in Oracle Arena, the Golden State Warriors led by 31 points before the Clippers stormed back to take down the champs as 13.5-point underdogs.
In consecutive games at Oracle Arena, the Los Angeles Clippers have now cashed moneyline tickets of +1041 in Game 2 and +1126 in Game 5 tonight. If you would have rolled over the Clippers money line in their last two games on the road at Oracle Arena, a $100 bettor would be up about $13,888.
Moving forward, early odds still don't give the Clippers much of a chance in Game 6. The Warriors opened as 9-point favorites on the road in Game 6, tied for highest road spread in Game 6 or 7 in our Bet Labs database. The other? Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers in Game 6 of the 2009 Western semis against the Houston Rockets.
Should the Clippers find more magic at the Staples Center on Friday, it's worth noting that the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook listed the Clippers at 100-1 to win the series before Game 1.
