With Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson both out due to injury, it was imperative for the Toronto Raptors to take advantage in Wednesday's Game 3 of the NBA Finals — and that's exactly what Kawhi Leonard and Co. did.
The Raptors jumped on the Warriors early and cruised to a 123-109 Game 3 victory to take a 2-1 series lead.
Following the win, oddsmakers in Las Vegas moved Toronto to a -120 favorite to win the NBA title — the first time the Raps have been favored all series.
With plenty of uncertainty regarding the health of Durant and Thompson, it's reasonable to assume that bettors would remain conservative for Friday's Game 4 until there's more clarity on their statuses before taking either side of this matchup.
Surprisingly, this is not the case at all.
Big bets are already landing on Raptors-Warriors Game 4, forcing oddsmakers to adjust on the fly by moving this point spread.
Let's look at the market-moving betting action.
Oddsmakers opened the Warriors as 4.5-point favorites against the Raptors in Game 4 and casual bettors are going right back to the Toronto well. Sixty-one percent of spread bets are jumping on the points with the road underdog, yet the line has moved from Golden State -4.5 to -5.5.
If the early majority of bettors are taking the Raptors, why is the line moving away from them? Because the big money is backing Golden State.
Despite just 39% of all bets coming in on the Warriors, that minority makes up a whopping 88% of total money wagered on the spread, indicating that the biggest bets are laying the points.
With so much money already lining up on one side, oddsmakers have had no choice but to push the Warriors from 4.5-point to 5.5-point favorites for Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
