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Its Playoff time in the NBA and NHL, with the first round of the Playoffs starting last week. There is nothing like an intense 7 game series between two teams with the chance to move on to the next round at stake. In both sports, there are 8 first round series being played between 16 teams, which is basically half the leagues.†The first-round series are not generally known for big upsets, however, in the world of sports, anything is possible.
In the NBA each team has played their first game of the series this past weekend and the biggest story so far is that the Cleveland Cavs lost their first game to the underdog Indiana Pacers. This is the first time that LeBron James has ever lost the first game in the first round, and it was the first time he has lost any first-round game in his last 22 first round games. The Pacers were able to win wire to wire and were even able to withstand a late 3rd†quarter comeback by the Cavs. King James is not going to go quietly and various bookmaker software programs have the Cavs still as the favorite to win the series at -230.
In the NHL each team has played at least 2 games in the first round, with a handful of series having played 3 games already. So far this has been an uneventful first round with almost all the top-seeded teams leading in the series. The Las Vegas Knights are up 3-0, and the Predators, Lightning, Bruins, Sharks and Blue Jackets are each up 2-0 in their series. The only real surprise is the Blue Jackets being up on the Capitals, however, the Capitals are notorious for choking in the playoffs.††In the other two series, the defending Champion Pittsburgh Penguins are up 2-1 over the Philadelphia Flyers and the Winnipeg Jets are up 2-1 on the Minnesota Wild. A few of these series will most likely be done by the end of this week.
There will be playoff games each night of the week this week which means increased betting volumes. This will also led to increased chances for players to lose more money and for sports†bookie agents to earn more money. In addition, the Playoffs will be going on for the next 2 months so there should be plenty of exciting games ahead and a lot more money to be made.
