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The Miami Heat finished off the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday night and will meet the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 NBA Finals. The Lakers and Heat are somewhat of a surprising matchup with many thinking that the Bucks would have been there. Miami took care of Milwaukee in the second round and is deserving of a trip to the finals. So it will be LeBron James taking on his former team in Miami, a place where James won two titles. Let’s take a look at the initial odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook for Game 1 on Wednesday.
Lakers vs. Heat Game 1 odds, lines, spreads
Spread: Lakers -5
Over/Under: 217.5
Moneyline: Lakers (-215), Heat (+175)
Update: Here are some early betting splits for Game 1 via DKSB. I’m a bit surprised that around 75% of the handle and around 60% of the bets are going toward the Lakers on the spread. I think that number will slowly get more even over the next couple days. The spread will likely move a bit as well if this persists, so people will gradually start throwing money on Miami if it gets to, say, +5.5 or +6 on the spread. The over is getting a ton of action as well. This may have some recency bias considering what the Lakers and Heat did in their series-clinching wins in the conference finals.
Early Game 1 Betting Splits
| Teams | Point Spread | % Handle | % Bets | Total Points | % Handle | % Bets | Moneyline | % Handle | % Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | Point Spread | % Handle | % Bets | Total Points | % Handle | % Bets | Moneyline | % Handle | % Bets |
| MIA Heat | 5 | 28% | 36% | Over 217.5 | 94% | 80% | 175 | 24% | 41% |
| LA Lakers | -5 | 72% | 64% | Under 217.5 | 6% | 20% | -215 | 76% | 59% |
The Lakers come out as 5-point favorites to begin the series. This isn’t a new spot for the Heat. They’ve been underdogs in pretty much every game this postseason it seems. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see some money going on Miami and the points before we get a look at the matchup. The O/U comes in slightly higher than what we were seeing last round, which is more of a testament to these two offenses, not a knock on the defense. Both teams can clamp down if need be with good perimeter defenders.
I don’t see much of a reason to look at the regular-season games between the Lakers and Heat, but we’ll do it anyway. Before the season stopped and started up again, the Lakers had beat the Heat twice during the regular season. The game at Staples Center was a blowout, 95-80 win for the Lakers. The game in Miami was an L.A. win but much closer at 113-110. The Heat didn’t have Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala and the Lakers didn’t have Avery Bradley, so again, hard to take anything away from these games. It’s been almost 10 months since December when Miami and L.A. last played.
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