I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed
As a sports fan, I haven’t actually been all that frustrated with the lack of sports during the pandemic. I have plenty of other things to keep my mind occupied, not the least of which is keeping myself and my family healthy (as I sit here eating peanut M&Ms). But I was a slightly morose about the possible end to the NBA season, as my Milwaukee Bucks were having their best season ever, looking they could win their first title in my lifetime. Now that the NBA season has restarted in “the bubble,” maybe I would have rather had the rest of the season cancelled, as the Bucks just lost to the Brooklyn Nets in the largest point spread upset in the NBA since 1993.
Prior to the Nets’ stunner, the biggest upset was on April 6, 1993, when the Dallas Mavericks beat the Seattle Supersonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) 109-107. The Mavs were 19.5-point dogs.
Few turnovers, good shooting = upset
It was a little bit fluky and for the Bucks, rather unimportant (the team needs just one more win to clinch the best record in the Eastern Conference), but it was still little disheartening and embarrassing.
The Nets, already without Kyrie Irving for most of the season and Kevin Durant all season, were also without three other key players, who decided to opt-out of the season’s restart. Three other players who would have started Tuesday’s game were ruled out by the head coach. Thus, with a bunch of backups and scrubs, the line moved heavily toward the already favored Bucks, putting Nets as 19-point underdogs.
But the Nets’ players played their asses off, barely turned the ball over, and shot (and made) a boatload of three-pointers. The Bucks, in the meantime, looked like they weren’t really into the game. Two starters weren’t playing, another two players – including a starter – were playing in their first game back from COVID diagnoses. No starters played after halftime, so it looked like a Summer League game.
Regardless of the Bucks’ motivation, the Nets outplayed them – even with some guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton playing in the first half, the Nets led most of the way. And so we have the biggest NBA upset since before most of the players on the court were born.
“I’m sure a lot of people wasn’t expecting us to be having a close game,” said the Nets’ Chris Chiozza. “In the NBA, they’re one of the better teams, so they know they can’t come out and just overlook other teams’ best shot every night. I think we just played a great game.”
Bad beat for Bucks bettors
According to ESPN, not a whole lot of bettors took advantage of the steep odds to make a mint on Brooklyn. At PointsBet, a whopping 94% of the money was wagered on Milwaukee. There were even a “significant” number of $1,000 moneyline bets put on Milwaukee at sick -3,000 odds. Obviously all of those bets lost, since the Nets won the game outright. The Bucks bettors would have only profited about $32 if they had won. Seems like a bad bet. Maybe it’s just me.
BetMGM told ESPN that one person did put $600 down on the Nets at 13-1, winning $7,800.
