NFLbets isn’t a huge fan of two-sport bets, though we have been known to throw a few moneys on a weird parlay. Heck, one of our favorite cash-ins of 2018 was a parlay with Team France -1½ goals in the World Cup final with the under in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at BC Lions game.
But what better time of year is there to throw a few dollars more at these wacky two-sport point spread bets that bookmakers all over the world and online break out for the Super Bowl. Yours truly just visited the Bellagio sportsbook in Las Vegas and took a flutter at their five main “Inter-Sports Propositions.” Take a list at these goodies, but be warned: Resistance is futile.
You know the already old cliché about Bill Belichick taking away the opposition’s best weapon? Well, the Rams have two of the NFL’s top weapons on special teams: Greg Zeuerlein and Johnny Hekker. How will the Hoodied One deal with these two, other than prevent Hekker from trying anything tricky on a 4th-and-1 or -less fake punt opportunity?
NFLbets figures Belichick to have his defense in extreme bend-don’t-break mode (the prevailing philosophy of these Patriots) and that Zeuerlein should be good for a minimum of four field goals, and five or six is certainly not out of the question.
So how about those Devils? New Jersey “boasts” one of the NHL’s bottom 3 teams alongside the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings. Scoring-wise, in a league of haves and have-nots, count the Devils definitely among the latter at just 2.98 goals scored per game. You don’t even have to be a hockey expert to reckon that this one’s easy: Take field goals made by Rams -½.
Yes, the Grizzlies are already bad and could be playing their final game with Marc Gasol and/or Mike Conley on the roster on Super Bowl Sunday, thus shaving a good 36 points per game from the association’s lowest-scoring team at a pitiable 100.6 points per game. But by all accounts, the Knicks are in full tank mode and are giving up a fat 115.0 ppg, 25th-“best” in the NBA. Thus, this prop can more or less be reduced to an over/under of 90 on Edelman’s receiving yards.
To that point, the Rams secondary will be able to focus on Brady’s favorite target as the sole remaining A-list target beyond the occasional Gronk in the red zone. And if Talib is the guy assigned to Edelman in coverage, well, we’re liking Talib’s chances for a big game anyway … Take the Grizzlies -17½ vs Edelman.
The bookmakers are likely depending on fallout from the Anthony Davis trade demand* dampening the team’s spirit and/or scoring. But as this is written the day after the Pels beat James Harden and the Rockets in Houston, 121-116, and the day of the NBA announcing a $50,000 fine of Davis for making such a demand*, NFLbets still believes that New Orleans can score and that the Pelicans roster will remain the same for the Spurs game. In the two most recent Pelicans-Spurs games, New Orleans was good for 30 and 27 points in the first quarter; we’d expect the high 20s in this one as well.
So again may this two-sport proposition bet be reduced to a single Super Bowl prop bet, i.e. Los Angeles Rams over/under 28½ (or 29) points. With an over/under of 56½, the book reckons the final score to be around Patriots 29 (or 30), Rams 27. NFLbets likes the under on the Super Bowl anyway, so all we really need is Davis & Co. to hold up their end of the bargain. Take the Pelicans 1st-quarter points -½ vs the Rams.
This prop suggests that 76ers should be good for 61 points in the first 30 minutes of the Kings game. Note that every NHL or NBA team involved in these props is playing away. The Sixers-Kings game is the sole instance of an Eastern Time Zone-based team playing in the Pacific. However, this marks the last of a four-game road trip through Denver and California for the 76ers, so body-clock questions are probably moot.
Things are running smoothly for the Sixers at present. Since January 13, they’re on a 6-2 run which includes wins over the Spurs, Rockets and Pacers. More relevant for this prop, they’ve averaged a nice 57.25 points in the first half over that span and five times have topped 60. This game could well be a fun shootout that everyone should switch over to at halftime rather than watch Moron 5’s halftime show.
If you’re betting the under for the Super Bowl, you’ll take the 76ers 1st-half points -4½ vs Super Bowl points.
Even the casual sports bettor has got to realize that betting on the 2018-19 Las Vegas Knights is trouble. The defending champs started out 1-4, stumbled their way to 9-12-1 by mid-November and were pigeonholed into the mediocre class of the NHL. Naturally, the Knights went on a 9-2 tear to restart the title-defense talk with a record of 18-14-1; this was chased by a six-game stretch featuring three OT losses and then a 7-game win streak and a 2-4 run.
But here’s one thing that stays consistent about the Knights: They shoot like crazy. Regardless of who’s on the ice, Vegas is averaging a crazy 33.5 shots per game; though their success rate is a weak 8.9% (the NHL average is just over 9.7%), these Knights get off lotsa shots. With the Panthers allowing 30.5 shots per game, this is yet one more bet that feels like a “Patriots over/under 30 points” prop.
This one should prove to be a squeaker with the damn -2½ handicap Vegas is giving Vegas. We’ll say the effects of a road back-to-back is just enough to make the Knights a tad sluggish. Take Patriots points +2½ vs Vegas Knights shots on goal.
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