The New York Knicks are having a shockingly good season, sitting at 37-29 on the year. This is the franchise’s best season in nearly a decade, and they sit firmly as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Knicks fans are obviously loving this and incredibly pleased, but they aren’t the only sports fans loving it. Sports gamblers have flocked to the Knicks in droves, because the team is currently a monstrous 43-23 against the spread this year. This means the Knicks have covered the spread in 65.1% of their games, and in the past 30 seasons, only the 2011-12 San Antonio Spurs (67.2%) and 2009-10 Milwaukee Bucks (65.9%) have a better winning percentage against the spread over a regular season, according to ESPN Stats and Information.
If we peer at the Knicks since April 3, we see they’re a blistering 15-2 against the spread. If one simply looks at where the Knicks started, they realize how crazy of a year it’s been for Knicks fans. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons were the other two teams tied with them for the longest championship odds, at a staggering 500-1, at Caesars Sports Book by William Hill. If we look at the projected win totals, the Knicks’ projection of 22.5 was tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the fewest in the NBA.
The Knicks have exceeded expectations by a long shot, and the way bettors are handling them, reflects that. Jeff Sherman, vice president of risk management at the West gate Super Book in Las Vegas, said Wednesday that his shop hadn’t taken a bet on the Knicks to win the title in over a week. “They still get faded a lot,” Sherman said. “People just aren’t buying into it, even though they have such a strong record and they’re on an incredible run against the spread.” The Knicks have risen to 80-1 odds to win the NBA title and 40-1 odds to win the Eastern Conference at Caesars Sports Book. The Julius Randle-led team is a trendy championship pick, with FanDuel saying the Knicks are currently the book’s “biggest liability in the NBA championship outright market, taking the crown from the 76ers who have been the leader for most of the season.”
