Yahoo Sports NBA Finals betting: Bettors really like the MVP chances of Kevin Durant and James Harden
Bettors are bullish on the chances of a Nets player winning NBA Finals MVP.
Over 30% of the MVP wagers at BetMGM are on either Kevin Durant or James Harden. Durant has 15.3% of the tickets at the sports book while Harden is close behind at 15.1%. Denver Nuggets C Nikola Jokic — the presumed regular season MVP — is at 13%.
Harden and Durant are also the two players with the most money wagered. Just under 22% of the handle — the total money bet on Finals MVP — is on Harden while Durant is at 18.3% of the cash. The Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic is a distant third at 11.7%. The number of tickets and cash wagered on Harden and Durant make the two players the biggest liability for BetMGM.
The Nets currently lead the Boston Celtics 2-0 in their first-round series and can go up 3-0 with a win on Friday night.
LeBron James isn’t as popular of a bet as you might expect. While James’ odds have gone down to +400 from +450 and he remains the favorite to win the award, just 5.8% of the tickets and 5.9% of the handle is on James. James ranks fifth in the number of MVP wagers behind Durant, Harden, Jokic and Joel Embiid.
The Lakers went up 2-1 over the Phoenix Suns with a 109-95 victory on Thursday night.
Doncic, meanwhile, has taken some big bets. He’s just No. 13 in terms of ticket percentage at 2.6% behind Phoenix Suns G Devin Booker and Stephen Curry, whose Golden State Warriors were eliminated in the play-in tournament.
Bettors are also liking big wagers on Utah Jazz C Rudy Gobert. While just 1.6% of the wagers are on Gobert, 10% of the handle is on the defensive stalwart to win MVP.
Here are the top 12 favorites as of Friday for Finals MVP:
Lebron James, +400
Kevin Durant, +450
Giannis Antetokounmpo, +550
Joel Embiid, +750
James Harden, +800
Donovan Mitchell, +1100
Kyrie Irving, +1200
Luka Doncic, +1600
Anthony Davis, +2200
Nikola Jokic, +2500
Kawhi Leonard, +2500
Rudy Gobert, +3000
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