NBA:
Sportsbooks Finally Begin to Doubt Underwhelming Brooklyn Nets
NBA: Sportsbooks Finally Begin to Doubt Underwhelming Brooklyn Nets
March 8, 2022
Before a game had been played in the 2021/22 NBA
season, there were clear favourites for the NBA Finals – the Brooklyn
Nets. It was clear to see why sportsbooks were so keen on the Nets, as
they had a stacked roster, undoubtedly the best since the organisation
moved back to New York in 2012.
Having the likes of Kevin Durant and James Harden (who has now
moved to Philadelphia), as well as Kyrie Irving (although, for
well-publicised reasons, his participation was in doubt), and others
meant that it seemed natural for bookmakers to select the Nets as
favorite. The odds were as low as +200 (2/1) before the season began.
But now, as we approach the climax of the regular season (teams have
around 20 games to play), the Nets have just scrapped above .500.
Statisticians had predicted that they would win around 56 games of the
82-game season. They will be fortunate to pass 40 wins at the rate they
are going.
For the first few months of the season, the sportsbooks had held firm
in the NBA odds, keeping
the Nets as favourites. That’s changed recently. There is a sense that
this is not a great team having a slow start to the season. After more
than 60 games played, the Nets simply don’t look like a
championship-winning team.
Suns are worthy favourites
Of course, things can change between now and April
10 when the Playoffs get underway. And in truth, the bookmakers have
not taken a bazooka to the Nets’ odds. They have been moved from around
+200 preseason to +600 today, which puts them as third favourites
overall. The Phoenix Suns – by a distance the best performing team in the NBA
this season – are the new favourites.
This happens a lot in sports: all sports, not just basketball. You get
a (relatively) newly built team that is stacked with talent, and
everyone rushes to anoint them as champions. Of course, it does work
out at times, such as with the Miami Heat in 2012 & 2013, and the
Lakers in 2020. But sometimes it doesn’t work out, as is evidenced by
the current underwhelming LA Clippers team.
Tough route to the
Playoffs proper
Now, nobody is saying that the Nets can’t turn
things around with 20 games to go. They are currently in 8th position
in the Eastern Conference. If
the season were to end today, they’d be in the Playoffs, albeit they
would have to take the tougher route of the NBA’s “play-in” tournament,
which is basically a wild card tournament between the teams ranked 7th
– 10th in each conference to see who enters the Playoffs proper.
The Nets can go straight to the Playoffs, but they will have to
overcome a 5-game deficit from the current occupiers of 6th place in
the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics. That doesn’t seem likely
with the less than a quarter of the season remaining. Regardless, you’d
imagine that any bettors who backed the Nets at those short odds at the
start of the season will feel uneasy now. There have been positives
(the return of Irving, the form of Durant). But, on the whole, the Nets
have been a huge disappointment, and they look nothing like champions
in waiting.
