NBA betting favorites are on an unbelievable run against the spread and straight up over the last 29 games as the league approaches the trade deadline and All-Star break.
Teams that closed as the betting favorite have won 28 of 29 games since Saturday. Those teams aren’t just winning — they’re covering.
In those 29 games, favorites have covered 26 of them, losing just two and pushing another.
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That can’t be good for sportsbooks leading up to the Super Bowl.
The lone upset during the stretch was hardly an upset at all. On Tuesday, the Phoenix Suns beat the Philadelphia 76ers outright, 114-109, as small 1.5-point underdogs. The only other cover was a miracle backdoor by the Chicago Bulls on Monday against the Phoenix Suns. Phoenix won the game outright but did not cover the spread.
Malcolm Hill checked into the game for the first time with 1:41 to play.
He scored 8 points, leading the Bulls (+6.5) to an outrageous cover 😳 pic.twitter.com/Pp0mUUJLcD
— The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) February 8, 2022
What’s behind the favorites dominating?
Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone offered that due to teams looking ahead to the upcoming All-Star break — which begins next week — that “you can steal games right now.”
Other teams could be impacted by the trade deadline with sellers — typically underdogs and losing teams — distracted by rumors. The trade deadline is on Thursday, Feb. 10.
The Indiana Pacers lost by 21 points to the Atlanta Hawks on the same day that they traded Domantas Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings. Indiana trailed 76-50 at halftime.
The Kings traded young point guard Tyrese Haliburton in the deal and lost at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves by 20.
The Portland Trail Blazers traded CJ McCollum on Tuesday before losing 113-95 to the Orland Magic, who picked up their 13th win on the year.
Maybe the trade deadline matters. Maybe it’s the All-Star break. Maybe it’s just an 82-game season, and sometimes weird streaks like this happen. Either way, those backing the favorites are wide-eyed looking at their accounts on Wednesday.