NBA bettors suffer brutal bad beats
All bad beats are not created equal. Some are more painful than others and leave shell-shocked bettors wondering what they did to deserve such a cruel fate.
Anybody who bet on the Knicks-Pacers Over 209 on Saturday can relate.
Indiana led 104-100 with 5:05 left and the over looked like a lock. The final score was 104-103.
After Mitchell Robinson made a dunk to make it 104-100, the teams combined to make only 1 of 21 shots the rest of the way.
Over bettors had one last chance to cash when Julius Randle was fouled with 0.1 seconds left and New York trailing 104-102.
Two made free throws meant overtime and a guaranteed over. Randle hit the first free throw. But he clanged the second off the back of the rim to twist a dagger into the hearts and bankrolls of over bettors.
We can only hope that one of those gamblers didn’t also suffer a brutal beat on the Timberwolves on Friday night.
Minnesota meltdown
Minnesota, a 3½-point underdog to the Thunder, led 121-119 with 3.9 seconds left when Jordan Bell missed two free throws that could’ve sealed the win. But the Timberwolves rebounded Bell’s miss and Karl-Anthony Towns was fouled with 1.1 seconds left.
Towns missed a free throw, then Minnesota was issued a technical foul for a delay of game because Bell didn’t have his jersey tucked in when he subbed in.
Danilo Gallinari made the technical free throw for Oklahoma City to make it 121-120. The Thunder were out of timeouts so Towns tried to intentionally miss his second free throw to run out the clock. But he made it, giving Oklahoma City a chance at a throw-in. Steven Adams threw a pass the length of the court to Dennis Schroder, who beat the buzzer with a layup to send the game to overtime.
The Thunder outscored the Timberwolves 17-5 in OT en route to a 139-127 win and cover.
Bowl line moves
Circa Sports sportsbook posted lines on all of the college football bowl games at 4 p.m. Sunday. Here are the biggest line moves in the first 24 hours:
Eastern Michigan went from a 16½-point underdog to 10½-point underdog to Pittsburgh in the Quick Lane Bowl.
Arkansas State went from pick to a 3-point favorite over Florida International in the Camellia Bowl.
Boise State dropped from a 6½-point underdog to 3½-point underdog to Washington in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Louisiana Tech moved from a 10-point underdog to 7-point underdog to Miami, Fla. in the Independence Bowl.
Texas went from a 10-point underdog to 7-point underdog to Utah in the Alamo Bowl.
Memphis went from a 9½-point underdog to 7-point underdog to Penn State in the Cotton Bowl.
Kansas State flipped from a 1½-point underdog to a 1-point favorite over Navy in the Liberty Bowl.
Contest leaderboard
There’s a two-way tie for first place in the Westgate SuperContest. Tuco, who started the season 27-3 ATS, went 3-1-1 this week to maintain a share of the lead at 47-21-2 (69.1 percent). CRISPR went 4-0-1 to tie Tuco.
The Circal Sports Million Pro Football Contest leader is Booty Blockers, who went 2-1-2 this week to stay in first with a 48-19-3 (71.6 percent) record.
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Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
Biggest bowl moves
Circa Sports sportsbook posted lines on college football bowl games at 4 p.m. Sunday. Here are the biggest line moves in the first 24 hours:
Favorite; Open; Current; Underdog
Pittsburgh; 16½; 10½; Eastern Michigan
Arkansas State; Pick; 3; Florida International
Washington; 6½; 3½; Boise State
Miami, Fla.; 10; 7; Louisiana Tech
Utah; 10; 7; Texas
Penn State; 9½; 7; Memphis
Kansas State; +1½; 1; Navy