Posted at 11:00 AM EST. Odds are subject to change.

San Antonio -4½ -110 over New York

NBA Finals Game 1

8:30 PM EST. The New York Knicks have become the hottest team in basketball and the market has responded accordingly. New York has covered 10 of its last 11 games and has been cashing tickets at an incredible rate throughout the playoffs. They've won games by huge margins, generated enormous public interest, and become the feel-good story of the postseason. If you've been fading the Knicks lately, you've likely been tearing up tickets on a nightly basis. Eventually, when a team keeps paying off, bettors pile aboard. That's exactly what's happened here.

The problem is that point spreads adjust. The sportsbooks are not in the business of handing out money forever. The point spread is the great equalizer, and when a team covers 10 of 11 games, the market eventually overcompensates. That's where we believe we are right now. The Knicks beat an Atlanta team that wasn't particularly strong and a Philadelphia team that spent much of the postseason dealing with injury issues. Give New York credit for taking advantage of the competition in front of them, but they have not faced anything remotely close to the challenge that awaits them in this series.

Meanwhile, San Antonio earned its way here by navigating a much tougher road. The Spurs eliminated Oklahoma City, one of the league's elite teams, and now they're being asked to lay only 4½ points at home against a Knicks team whose stock has reached astronomical levels. Think about that for a moment. San Antonio was laying similar numbers at home against Oklahoma City. Are we really supposed to believe New York belongs in the same class as the Thunder? We don't. This number has been shaded heavily toward the Knicks because of public enthusiasm, recent results, and the liability sportsbooks face when New York keeps covering. The Spurs are the superior team, they're battle-tested, and they're being offered at a discount because everyone wants a piece of the Knicks. We'll gladly take the other side and lay the points with San Antonio.

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Bet365 Early Payout – How It Works

Straight Bets:

If the team you back to win goes up by the designated number of points at any time during the game, BET365 will pay out your bet in full immediately, even if the opposing team later comes back and wins the game.

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